Healthcare Spending is on the rise in the United States. The national healthcare spending has increased faster in 2018 than it did in 2017. Read the article below to see what the projected statistics of healthcare spending will be over the next seven years.nnHealthcare spending in the U.S. grew by 4.6% in 2018, totaling $3.6 trillion, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary.nnHealthcare, as a share of the overall economy, slipped to 17.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, down slightly from 17.9% in 2017.nnThe statistics, published in Health Affairs, show that healthcare spending averaged $11,172 per person in 2018, while the total personal healthcare spending growth rate held steady at 4.1%.nnNational healthcare spending increased faster in 2018 than it did in 2017, but it equaled the rate seen in 2016. CMS attributed the recent increase to acceleration in health insurance costs, which grew by 4.3% in 2017 and 13.2% in 2018. Another contributing factor was the reinstatement of the health insurance tax after a one-year moratorium.nnFor the second consecutive year, the total number of uninsured people rose by 1 million.nn”Healthcare spending growth picked up across all major payers in 2018 as medical prices grew faster, due in part to the reinstatement of the health insurance tax on all health insurance providers,” Micah Hartman, a statistician in the CMS Office of the Actuary, said in a statement. “However, economic growth outpaced healthcare spending and the share of the economy devoted to health care fell.”nnRising medical prices accounted for an uptick in per capita healthcare spending last year. Hospital spending—which accounted for 33% of overall healthcare spending in 2018—led the way among goods and services spending growth, at 4.5%.nnGrowth in expenditures slipped slightly to 4.5%, though hospital prices rose from 1.7% in 2017 to 2.4% in 2018. Additionally, growth in total inpatient days slid from 1.7% in 2017 to 0.7% in 2018.nnPhysician and clinical services spending slowed to 4.1% in 2018, down from 4.7% in 2017, while retail prescription drug spending rose from 1.4% in 2017 to 2.5% in 2018.nnCMS released projections in February for average healthcare spending growth rates of 5.5% annually between 2018 to 2027, totaling nearly $6 trillion.nnThe study projected acceleration in hospital spending from 4.4% in 2018 to 5.1% in 2019, thanks to faster than expected growth in Medicare and Medicaid.nnThe study also attributed the growth in overall healthcare spending to more baby boomers entering Medicare and a 2.5% increase in medical goods and services through 2027.nnOn the payer side, private health insurance spending totaled $1.2 trillion, growing by 5.8% in 2018 compared to 4.9% in 2017.nnMeanwhile, both Medicare and Medicaid experienced spending growth increases of 6.4% and 3%, respectively.nnThe federal government’s healthcare spending rose by 5.6% in 2018, doubling the rate from 2017, as growth in Medicare and Medicaid expenditures increased significantly.nnThe largest portions of healthcare spending went to the federal government and households, each with 28%, private businesses at 20%, state and local governments at 17%, and “other private revenues” at 7%.nnOriginal article published on healthleadersmedia.com
