A separate report published in the same journal showed US health care spending rose to $2.2 trillion in 2007.
Chronic illnesses leading to steep medical bills
January 6, 2009
They include diabetes, and high blood pressure, and this has helped fuel a big rise in medical care that is not covered by health insurance.
The average annual costs for that rose from $427 per American in 1996 to $741 in 2005m according to a report in the journal Health Affairs.
