Health care executives should expect total outlays for
U.S. health care to slow due to steady insurance premiums
and outlays for prescription drugs, according to an industry
report.
“Overall spending on health care still increased
by 7.9 percent — much faster than the rate of inflation — but
below the 8 percent to 9 percent growth rates of the
two previous years. Even with slower growth, though,
U.S. health care expenditures amounted to almost $2 trillion,
or more than $6,000 per person in 2004, and accounted
for 16 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product,
about the same as the previous year.” according
to a recent article in “Managed Healthcare Executive”.
The article makes note of a report from the Office of
the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, a division of the Department of Health and
Human Services.
“The main factor driving up health care costs
was higher bills from hospitals (up 8.6 percent) and
physicians (up 9 percent); these services accounted for
more than 60 percent of the total spending increase in
2004.” the report notes.
The most noticeable slowdown came in prescription drugs,
with retail spending on pharmaceuticals rising only 8.2
percent in 2004, a drop in the 10 percent to 15 percent
increases during the five previous years.
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