Healthcare crisis continues to grow.

From AFT Retiree e-news...

U.S. Healthcare Spending Sees Largest-Ever Annual Increase: U.S. national health spending in 2009 is estimated to have grown 5.7 percent and reached $2.5 trillion despite a projected decline in the gross domestic product, an outcome that largely reflects the economic recession, according to the annual report from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The analysts said the health share of gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rise to 17.3 percent, an increase of 1.1 percentage points and the largest one-year increase since tracking began in 1960. The number of uninsured is approaching 50 million, with 14,000 Americans losing their health insurance every day.The report also said public spending growth is expected to account for more than 50 percent of all U.S. healthcare spending by 2012. In addition, the healthcare sector's share of GDP is expected to reach 19.3 percent by 2019.