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Health care in the focus of US Government

05 February 2010 03:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Government is poised to become king of the hill in America’s vast health care system, with or without President Barack Obama’s planned redo, according an economic report released Thursday, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

Federal and state programs will pay slightly more than half the tab for health care purchased in the United States by 2012, says the analysis by Medicare number crunchers published in the journal Health Affairs.

That’s even if Obama’s health care overhaul wastes away in congressional limbo. Long in coming, the shift to a health care sector dominated by government is being speeded up by the deep economic recession and the aging of the Baby Boomers, millions of whom will soon start signing up for Medicare.

The report serves as a reality check in the debate over Obama’s health care plan, which has been marked by disagreements between the political parties over how large a role government should play.

Congressional Democrats want to move forward with the sweeping legislation, but are stalled over disagreements among themselves. Republicans have rejected Obama’s approach as a top-down, big government solution.

Other economically advanced countries â€” including those with government-run health care â€” also have problems with costs. But the U.S. spends much more per person than any other nation, without getting better results in life expectancy and many other measures of health.