U.S. health care costs reaching a few trillion dollars

That title is no misnomer - -that figure is $2 trillion (as in "t"). Just a few years ago -- in 2005 -- health care spending was at its lowest level since 1999 -- but now, it seems clear that health care costs are being forced in greater amounts onto citizens themselves.

In 2005 alone, U.S. spending on medical care set a new record of $1.99 trillion -- almost 2,000 billion dollars (or $2 trillion). In that unbelievable amount, it represented about 16% of the nation's economic output. Forget most industries -- combined. Health care spending trumped them all, including iPods and plasma TVs.

And the cost splits? At this time, it is estimated that federal and state governments shoulder about 40% of all health bills, while citizens pay for 31% of those costs using mostly private insurance premiums and other "out of pocket" costs.