Excerpt
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): It's often reported that Americans spend more on health care than the citizens of any other industrialized country. What's also been true for many years is that the cost of health care has risen much faster than the cost of living overall.
Now a new report from the government shows the rise has slowed for the second consecutive year. It found that health care spending grew by 3.9 percent for 2010, the most recent year on record. That's just a shade higher than in 2009. Still, the total amount spent in 2010 was $2.6 trillion dollars, or about $8,400 a person.
Moreover, health insurance premiums continue to climb, while workers are paying an ever-growing share of the money.
To help flesh out what's behind these changes, we check in with Susan Dentzer. She's editor in chief of the journal "Health Affairs," where the report was published today. She's also an analyst for the NewsHour.
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