Healthcare Spending Reaches $2.1 Trillion in 2006

In a report released yesterday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. healthcare spending was shown to have reached $2.1 trillion in 2006.  Healthcare accounts for 16.1 percent of the total economy.

In 2006, at the same time that national healthcare expenditures rose 6.7 percent, real median household income for white households rose only 1.1 percent to $50,700.  By comparison, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household incomes for Hispanic and black households were $37,800 and $32,000, respectively.  No statistically significant increases in median income were seen for these two groups in 2006.

If healthcare spending increases continue to outstrip income growth at levels between 5.6 and 6.7 percent (and as those expenditures make up a greater portion of a U.S. economy beset by a protracted housing slump and record high oil prices that affect both dollars-at-the-pump and the cost of consumer goods and services like airfare and the latest fashions from QVC), how long will it take before widespread consumer delinquencies begin to vex accounts receivables departments in the credit card, auto loan, wireless telephone, and cable television industries?

More pills equal more bills—but where is the money to pay for it all going to come from?