see also:

Health Disparity

Healthcare Policy and Reform

Costs

Current figures estimate that spending on health care in the U.S. is about 16% of its GDP.^[13][14] In 2007, an estimated $2.26 trillion was spent on health care in the United States, or $7,439 per capita.^[15] Health care costs are rising faster than wages or inflation, and the health share of GDP is expected to continue its upward trend, reaching 19.5 percent of GDP by 2017.^[13] In fact, government health care spending in the United States is consistently greater, as a portion of GDP, than in Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan (countries that have predominantly public health care).^[16] And an even larger portion is paid by private insurance and individuals themselves. A recent study found that medical expenditure was a significant contributing factor in 60% of personal bankruptcies in the United States. "Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy...for middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection...," said Dr. David Himmelstein of Harvard University, who helped compile the study.^[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_reform_in_the_United_States#Costs