Rise in health care spending lowest on record

[n2doc]

Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Health care spending since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act has risen by 1.3% a year, the lowest rate ever recorded, and health care inflation is the lowest it has been in 50 years, a report released Wednesday by the White House shows.

An economy hobbled by the recession and 2008 economic crisis played a role in some of the reduced spending growth, officials said, but the report cited "structural change" caused, in part, by the law.

The report's release comes as President Obama and his administration struggle with the political fallout associated with the problem-filled opening of the federal health care exchange, the online marketplace where uninsured Americans can shop for and buy insurance. The exchange's website, HealthCare.gov, opened Oct. 1 and has been hampered by outages and delays, particularly in its first weeks of operation.

Per capita spending has grown at a rate of 1.3% since 2010, the lowest recorded rate for any three-year period on record, according to the report, which was conducted by the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2013/11/20/health-care-spending-growth/3650243/

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

1. Wow,

this speaks volumes.

[sharp_stick]

2. Well now I'm sure all the

major media outlets will be adding this report to the non-stop Obamacare spiels they've been dishing out for the last month or so.

I'll just wait here for that... I'm sure it's coming along very soon.

[Gothmog]

3. The ACA is working

The change in the rate of inflation for medical cost is amazing

[zipplewrath]

4. Don't get too excited

This has been known for most of this year. The problem is that much of it is connected with the fact that people are so affected by the recession, they've been doing cost avoidance.

"An economy hobbled by the recession and 2008 economic crisis played a role in some of the reduced spending growth, officials said,..."

The thing to keep an eye on is this:

"...health care inflation is the lowest it has been in 50 years..."

They don't say what that is, but the latest data I know has it around 2.3%. That's good, because the historical average is more around 5.5%. And the administration was projecting a 6-7% rate going forward into the foreseeable future. 2% would be huge if it could be sustained. I suspect it can't. The industry is affected by some of the same inflationary forces that the rest of us are and lately it's been 1%, so the health care rate is still well above that.

I'm a little suspicious that the administration was probably a touch conservative in it's inflation rate predictions and that it may be more around 4-5% (okay, I HOPE they were).

[ProSense]

5. Notice how everyone jumps on the bad news

but dismiss the good news?

[pscot]

6. My medigap premiums are up 15%

starting in January. That will hurt. I'm glad someone's getting good news, but that would not be me.

[canoeist52]

7. One word, "deductables". People can't afford to use their insurance.

Food and shelter come first. Rarely is there anything left over for health care.