Healthcare's share of U.S. economy rose at record rate

The economic recession has forced Americans to spend 5.7% more for health services and drugs in 2009 than they spent in 2008, according to new projections in a report by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. With the healthcare tab for last year coming to $2.5 trillion, healthcare spending now represents 17.3% of the nation's gross domestic product, a 1.1% bigger portion of the nation's economy than in 2008. The increase represents the biggest one-year expansion of healthcare's share of the economy since the federal government began keeping records in 1960.