THIS IS GETTING CRAZY

Health care expenditures in 2009 set a record: $8084 per person.

Health Spending By U.S. Outpaced Insurers in 2009 as Economy Struggled
By Jeffrey Young - Jan 5, 2011 5:00 PM MT
BLOOMBERG

Total U.S. spending on health care rose to $2.49 trillion in 2009 from $2.39 trillion the prior year. Health care accounted for 17.6 percent of the gross domestic product in 2009, growing by one percentage point, which was the largest- ever single-year increase since federal auditors began tracking spending in 1960.

Though national health-care spending rose 4 percent in 2009, the smallest increase ever recorded, its share of gross domestic product increased because the economy shrank by 1.7 percent that year, the report said.