Study: Half of US healthcare spending covers 5 percent of Americans

Five percent of Americans are responsible for a full half of the nation's healthcare spending, according to a new federal report.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study also found the top 1 percent is responsible for 22 percent of the $1.26 trillion the United States spent on healthcare in 2009, or about $90,000 per person. The findings were reported by USA Today.

The numbers are likely to rekindle debate on the nation's healthcare system as lawmakers and the administration strive to improve care coordination, especially for seniors on Medicare.

The costliest patients "tended to be white, non-Hispanic women in poor health; the elderly; and users of publicly funded health care," the newspaper reported.

The study comes as the Obama administration is moving full speed ahead with implementation of the healthcare reform law, which seeks to reward physicians and hospitals for improving patient care and bringing down costs. Critics however say the law is too burdensome and does little to reduce costs while focusing on covering millions more people through Medicaid and federally subsidized private insurance.

Lawmakers have also vowed to improve coordination of care for so-called "dual eligibles," low-income seniors and people with disabilities who are on both Medicaid and Medicare and account for a disproportionate share of federal health spending.

The new report did offer some good news: The top 1 percent's share of health spending is actually down from 1996, when they accounted for 28 percent of the total.

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