Those Of You Crying About Having A Tax Hike To Pay For "Obamacare"

United States

In the United States, the average health insurance cost per month is $440 for individuals and $1,100 for families, or $5,280 and $13,200 respectively per year. Much of this cost is offset by employers through an employer-sponsored group health insurance plan. The majority of the health insurance provided in the United States is through employer-sponsored plans. National health spending in the United States represents nearly 18 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) at $2.5 trillion dollars. This number is expected to grow to $4.4 trillion by the year 2018.

I pay $13,500 per year for my wife and myself.

The annual Milliman Medical Index (MMI) measures the total cost of healthcare for a typical family of four covered by a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan. The 2012 MMI cost is $20,728, an increase of $1,335, or 6.9% over 2011. The rate of increase is not as high as in the past, but the total dollar increase was still a record. This is the first year the average cost of healthcare for the typical American family of four has surpassed $20,000.

No, you're wrong. Obama wanted single-payer, and the republicans refused to give their approval unless it included a private insurance provision.

Effective at enactment
The Food and Drug Administration is now authorized to approve generic versions of biologic drugs and grant biologics manufacturers 12 years of exclusive use before generics can be developed.[45]
The Medicaid drug rebate for brand name drugs is increased to 23.1% (except the rebate for clotting factors and drugs approved exclusively for pediatric use increases to 17.1%), and the rebate is extended to Medicaid managed care plans; the Medicaid rebate for non-innovator, multiple source drugs is increased to 13% of average manufacturer price.[45]
A non-profit Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute is established, independent from government, to undertake comparative effectiveness research.[45] This is charged with examining the "relative health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness" of different medical treatments by evaluating existing studies and conducting its own. Its 19-member board is to include patients, doctors, hospitals, drug makers, device manufacturers, insurers, payers, government officials and health experts. It will not have the power to mandate or even endorse coverage rules or reimbursement for any particular treatment. Medicare may take the Institute's research into account when deciding what procedures it will cover, so long as the new research is not the sole justification and the agency allows for public input.[46] The bill forbids the Institute to develop or employ "a dollars per quality adjusted life year" (or similar measure that discounts the value of a life because of an individual's disability) as a threshold to establish what type of health care is cost effective or recommended. This makes it different from the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Creation of task forces on Preventive Services and Community Preventive Services to develop, update, and disseminate evidenced-based recommendations on the use of clinical and community prevention services.[45]
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is reauthorized and amended.[45]