WASHINGTON,  Reform of the U.S. healthcare system is vital this year because of growing costs and worsening care, the Health and Human Services Department said in a report on Monday.

The HHS report, published at www.healthreform.gov, compiles findings of dozens of studies that have been used to justify calls for a complete overhaul of the healthcare system.

While the need for change is not controversial, conservatives and liberals differ on how that should be approached. President Barack Obama has said he wants legislation this year but is leaving the details up to Congress to work out.

"Today's report outlines the high cost of waiting to fix a system that has left too many Americans without the affordable, quality care they deserve," HHS spokeswoman Jenny Backus said in a statement.

The report points out that the United States spent $2.2 trillion on healthcare in 2007, or $7,421 per capita. Healthcare accounts for more than 16 percent of gross domestic product, nearly twice the average of other developed nations.

Healthcare costs doubled from 1996 to 2006, and are projected to rise to 25 percent of GDP in 2025; 49 percent by 2082 if something does not change.

"Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have more than doubled in the last nine years," the report reads. "As a result of these crushing health care costs, American businesses are losing their ability to compete in the global marketplace."

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In December 2008, the Presidential Transition Team invited Americans to host and participate in Health Care Community Discussions to talk about how to reform health care in America. Over 9,000 Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia signed up during the holiday season to host a Health Care Community Discussion and thousands more participated in these gatherings. Friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers, representing the views of both health care patients and providers, came together in homes, offices, coffee shops, fire houses, universities, and community centers with a common purpose: to discuss reforming the health care system.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary and Highlights

I. Overview of Health Care Community Discussions

A. Introduction

B. Motivation

C. Logistics

D. Analysis

II. Participation in Health Care Community Discussions

A. Reasons for Signing Up and Participating

B. Who Participated in Health Care Community Discussions

C. Sample of the Health Care Community Discussions

D. Articles on Health Care Community Discussions

III. Concerns About the U.S. Health Care System

A. Prioritization of Concerns

B. Cost Concerns

C. Access Concerns

D. Quality Concerns

E. System and Other Concerns

IV. Solutions to the Problems in the U.S. Health Care System

A. Principles for a Reformed U.S. Health Care System

B. Roles in a Reformed U.S. Health Care System

C. Specific Suggestions

D. Relationships between Concerns and Solutions

E. Suggestions for Future Engagement

V. Conclusion

Appendices

A. Analysis Team

B. Methodology

C. Figures, Tables, and Maps

Notes

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~OGD~