Current National Health Care Expenditures Health care costs in the United States has been rapidly rising over the past few years. These costs have imposed financial burdens on families, individuals, and businesses. According to Adams (2013), “Overall, healthcare spending totaled $2.7 trillion in 2011, or $8,680 per person, compared to $8,404 per person in 2010 and $8,149 per person the year before" (para 4). During the recession many people had lost their jobs and insurance which means they were not able to pay for their health care needs. The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) are estimates of health care spending in the U.S.; measuring expenditures for health care goods and services, public health activities, government administration, the net cost of health insurance, and investments relating to health care (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (2014) mentions that the health care spending rose 3.7 percent in 2012, which translates to $2.8 trillion or $8,915 per person (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014). These costs are rising faster than employee wages and the current economy. Spending too Much or Not Enough Cuts to Health Care Health care spending is rapidly rising causing stress on millions of Americans and businesses. I personally feel that too much money is being spent on health care and the majority of Americans don't have access to affordable quality care. I think the focus should be on how the health care budget gets spent instead of just spending where ever. Stop increasing the budget and try to figure out a way that the funds can be redistributed to make more economical sense. According to PNHP (2011), “Medicare and Medicaid account for 23 percent of federal spending and cover more than 100 million Americans. But the problem is even larger, because government at all levels pays 45 percent of the nation's $2.6-trillion annual medical bill" (para 4).