Aaron Catlin

Growth In US Health Spending Remained Slow In 2010; Health Share Of Gross Domestic Product Was Unchanged From 2009

Medical goods and services are generally viewed as necessities. Even so, the latest recession had a dramatic effect on their utilization. US health spending grew more slowly in 2009 and 2010-at rates of 3.8 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively-than in any other years during the fifty-one-year history of the National Health Expenditure Accounts. In 2010 extraordinarily slow growth in the use and intensity of services led to slower growth in spending for personal health care. The rates of growth in overall US gross domestic product (GDP) and in health spending began to converge in 2010. As a result, the health spending share of GDP stabilized at 17.9 percent.

National Health Spending In 2007: Slower Drug Spending Contributes To Lowest Rate Of Overall Growth Since 1998

In 2007, U.S. health care spending growth slowed to its lowest rate since 1998, increasing 6.1 percent to

Recession Contributes To Slowest Annual Rate Of Increase In Health Spending In Five Decades

2.2 trillion, or

National Health Spending In 2011: Overall Growth Remains Low, But Some Payers And Services Show Signs Of Acceleration

7,421 per person. The health care portion of gross domestic product reached 16.2 percent, up from 16.0 percent in 2006. Slower growth in 2007 was largely attributed to retail prescription drug spending and government administration. With the exception of prescription drugs, most other health care services grew at about the same rate as or faster than in 2006. Spending growth from private sources accelerated in 2007 as public spending slowed; however, public spending growth has continued to outpace private sources since 2002.

Health Spending Growth At A Historic Low In 2008

In 2009, US health care spending grew 4.0 percent--a historically low rate of annual increase--to

Pronounced Gender And Age Differences Are Evident In Personal Health Care Spending Per Person

2.5 trillion, or

US Health Spending Trends By Age And Gender: Selected Years 2002–10

8,086 per person. Despite the slower growth, the share of the gross domestic product devoted to health spending increased to 17.6 percent in 2009 from 16.6 percent in 2008. The growth rate of health spending continued to outpace the growth of the overall economy, which experienced its largest drop since 1938. The recession contributed to slower growth in private health insurance spending and out-of-pocket spending by consumers, as well as a reduction in capital investments by health care providers. The recession also placed increased burdens on households, businesses, and governments, which meant that fewer financial resources were available to pay for health care. Declining federal revenues and strong growth in federal health spending increased the health spending share of total federal revenue from 37.6 percent in 2008 to 54.2 percent in 2009.

Reconciling Medical Expenditure Estimates from the MEPS and NHEA, 2007

In 2011 US health care spending grew 3.9 percent to reach

Health Spending By State 1991–2014: Measuring Per Capita Spending By Payers And Programs

2.7 trillion, marking the third consecutive year of relatively slow growth. Growth in national health spending closely tracked growth in nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 and 2011, and health spending as a share of GDP remained stable from 2009 through 2011, at 17.9 percent. Even as growth in spending at the national level has remained stable, personal health care spending growth accelerated in 2011 (from 3.7 percent to 4.1 percent), in part because of faster growth in spending for prescription drugs and physician and clinical services. There were also divergent trends in spending growth in 2011 depending on the payment source: Medicaid spending growth slowed, while growth in Medicare, private health insurance, and out-of-pocket spending accelerated. Overall, there was relatively slow growth in incomes, jobs, and GDP in 2011, which raises questions about whether US health care spending will rebound over the next few years as it typically has after past economic downturns.

National Health Spending In 2004: Recent Slowdown Led By Prescription Drug Spending

In 2008, U.S. health care spending growth slowed to 4.4 percent--the slowest rate of growth over the past forty-eight years. The deceleration was broadly based for nearly all payers and health care goods and services, as growth in both price and nonprice factors slowed amid the recession. Despite the slowdown, national health spending reached