U.S. health spending slows dramatically

[Bob Of Burleson]

Dramatic slowdown in growth of U.S. health expenditure
over last decade closes gap between USA,
other high-spending countries

ScienceDaily.com

Growth in health expenditure in the USA slowed dramatically between 2000 and 2011, bringing the growth rate of the country's health budget in line with other high-spending countries, according to new research published in The Lancet as part of a new Series, The health of Americans.

However, the report's authors warn that future economic recovery in the USA could jeopardise the substantial progress that has been made towards containing the country's healthcare budget in recent years, and that policymakers should consider measures such as tightening Medicare and Medicaid price controls to avoid spiralling costs driven by an improving economy in the country. The USA currently spends more on healthcare per person than any other country in the world.

The research, which was conducted by the Health Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), compares the healthcare spending -- and the policies that determine it -- of the USA and five other OECD countries, selected for their high levels of healthcare spending (Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland).

The results show a dramatic decline in the growth of US healthcare spending in the last decade. In 2002, health expenditure growth in the USA was around 7%, compared to an average of just over 3% in the other countries included in the study. However, by 2011, health expenditure growth in the USA had declined to about 1%, approximately the same as the average growth rate in the other OECD countries studied. The USA grew less than other countries studied in 2012, despite a slight rebound of health care expenditure growth, according to new data released by OECD at the same time as this paper.

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[GFB]

Obamacare will fix this.