Cost of U.S. healthcare now 800% higher per person than it was in 1960, even when adjusted for inflation

Tuesday, August 23, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Obamacare, death spiral, cost increases

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(NaturalNews) One of the most massive political scandals ever perpetuated on the American people was President Barack Obama's healthcare "reform" law – one of the most onerous, under-performing and destructive pieces of legislation ever to be codified in U.S. statutes.

One of the biggest lies of all is that the 2,700 page plus behemoth was supposed to lower healthcare costs – for patients and hospitals, as well as for insurers. Out-of-pocket costs and premiums were also supposed to fall dramatically, as Obama promised repeatedly during his first campaign for the White House.

But that was then. Today, not only are premiums literally skyrocketing just a few years after the law has fully taken effect, but out-of-pocket expenses, mostly for ever growing insurance plan deductibles, have also grown exponentially.

Consider that in the U.S. today, a single trip to the emergency room – depending on the severity of your illness or injury – could easily top $30,000, $40,000, 50,000 or even more. If your plan has a high deductible, or if you simply cannot afford coverage regardless of Obamacare's mandate that you have coverage, just one such visit could bankrupt you or doom you and your family to a lifetime of crippling economic despair – all while our president and the Democrats who helped him pass the law receive better plans, VIP treatment and government subsidies to pay for their own coverage.

A 'reform' law that has only made things harder and more expensive for Americans

The Obamacare law – not "greedy" insurance companies or Republicans – is responsible for this calamity.

In fact, according to one recent analysis, compared to 1960, Americans today are suffering through an 800 percent increase in premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses and overall care. As documented by Global Research, a Canada-based think tank, in that year healthcare as a percentage of total gross domestic product (GDP) was just 5.1 percent. That figure had grown to 15 percent by 2002, but had risen further still to 17.9 percent by 2011. Estimates put it at 20 percent of GDP by 2020.

Further, the think tank noted, between 1960 and 2009, the average annual increase of healthcare spending rose from $147 per person to $8,086, or a 55-fold increase. If adjusted to 2010 dollars, the annual increase rose from $1,082 to $8,218.

In 1980, a normal hospital room in the U.S. cost $127; today, prices are many times higher.

The figures get worse from there. As noted by The Economic Collapse Blog:

-- This year alone, Americans will spend nearly $2.8 trillion on healthcare. By 2019, it is estimated that Americans will spend $4.5 trillion on such care.

-- Despite Obamacare's "reforms," the U.S. spending spiral on healthcare continues to streak upward. The U.S. spends more on healthcare than do Japan, Germany, China, France, the UK, Canada, Spain, Brazil and Australia combined.

-- If the U.S. healthcare system were its own country, it would amount to the 6th largest economy on the planet.

-- Nearly 60 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to outstanding (and massive) medical bills – again, something that was not supposed to happen in Obama's new era of "affordable healthcare."

Obamacare was designed to fail in order to usher in big, bloated, inefficient government-run care

The problem is only going to get worse. Not only is Obamacare being blamed for killing off scores of jobs, making it difficult to find well-paying, full-time work, but because of its arduous regulatory and compliance burdens on healthcare providers and doctors, many are choosing to leave the field of medicine and retire early, which will leave a dramatic physician and primary-care provider shortage in just a few years. So it won't matter if everyone is supposed to have insurance coverage; they still won't be any better off because they won't have any access to a provider.

Obamacare is a disaster – a 'reform' law that was designed to fail so as to destroy the private sector insurance market in favor of big, fat, bloated, expensive, inefficient – and rationed – government-run healthcare.

Think the chronically-troubled VA medical system ... on steroids.

Sources:

GlobalResearch.ca

Articles.LATimes.com

TheFiscalTimes.com

Yahoo.com