National_Healthcare_Spending

National Health Care Spending Americans are told that their healthcare is the best in the world and in terms of research, technology, and advances in surgery that may be true. But here are some numbers that show another side of America’s healthcare story, 47 million Americans under the age of 65 lack health insurance (Unknown (1), 2004). Americans spent $2 trillion annually on health care and yet ranks 23rd in infant mortality, 20th in life expectancy for women, 21st in life expectancy for men, and 67th in immunizations, right behind Botswana (Battista & McCabe, 1999) and (Barrett, 2008). The Social Security Administration predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will retire and become eligible for benefits over the next two decades, that is an average of more than 10,000 a day (United States Government Accountability Office, 2008). These numbers do not even take into account the amount that employers pay for health coverage for their employees. References Barrett, J. (2008). A System on Life Support. Newsweek, 151(4), 38. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database Web Site: http://support.ebsco.com Battista, J., & McCabe, J. (1999). The Case for Universal Health Care in the United States. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://cthealth.server101.com United States Government Accountability Office (2008). The Nation's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook (GAO-08-591R). Retrieved April 9, 2008 from http://support.ebsco.com Unknown (1) (2004). Headackes for All. Econmist. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database Web Site: http://support.ebsco.com