Government Health Spending Outpaced Insurers in U.S. for 2009
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U.S. government spending on Medicaid and Medicare rose almost six times faster than insurance company expenditures in 2009 from the prior year as the recession pushed more Americans onto public assistance, a federal report said.
The U.S. and states combined to spend $373.9 billion on Medicaid, the federal health program for the poor, an increase of 9 percent. Outlays for Medicare, aiding the elderly and disabled, rose 7.9 percent to $502.3 billion. Insurance companies led by UnitedHealth Group Inc. spent $801.2 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent.