Job-based health care costs over $20,000 per annum in the U.S.

Milliman Consulting estimates that job-based health care costs will be over $20,000 this year. This is the highest ever. The amount is said to be for a typical family.

Only ten years ago costs were half that amount.. Since 2008 health care costs are increasing at from 7 to 8 per cent per year.

If this trend of increases does not slow health care costs will consume more than half of a person's income by 2037 according to one study.

Health care in the U.S. was 17.3 per cent of U.S.. GDP this is the world's highest. For years health care expenditures have outpaced economic growth. From 2000 to 2009 health care costs grew 2.4 per cent more than did GDP.

Over the last five years the average worker has seen an increase of 40 per cent in the amount contributed for insurance. Fewer companies even offer coverage and for those who do premiums have risen along with deductibles.

The number of uninsured continues to climb in the U.S. The Census Bureau estimates there are about 50 million Americans who are not insured. For more see this article.