>In 2008 enrollment in Medicare was 44 million people.
>In 2008 Medicare was budgeted $325 billion.
>
>That's $7386 per participant.
>
>Extrapolated to include all 300 million Americans would mean that the 2008 budget requirement would need to be $2.2 trillion.
>
>Medicare doesn't come close to covering all health costs and this simple calculation doesn't include medicaid nor private supplemental plans which are concurrently used.
>
>Can someone please explain to me how gullible we citizens are supposed to be to believe that State-sponsored universal coverage will not bankrupt this nation? Mind you our entire 2008 budget was $2.66 trillion with a deficit of $240 billion.

I'll bite.

Extrapolating Medicare costs to the entire population is misleading because Medicare covers only the oldest (65+) group of Americans who, on average, are much higher consumers of health care. In fact, 27% of Medicare costs are consumed in the final year of life of Medicare patients.

Total health care expenditures in the US in 2007 was 2.1 trillion. (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/Downloads/proj2007.pdf)

The 2 trillion cost for universal health care is not in addition to todays cost. It is a shift from 'premium' to 'tax'.

I agree, on our present course healthcare costs are going to bankrupt the country. I'm ready to try something else.