2010 health spending grew slowly

Jan 11 2012

This slowing of health spending brought the rate of growth in line with that of the U.S. economy. The Obama administration pointed to the new figures as evidence that the health law isn't making health care more expensive.

The New York Times: Recession Holds Down Health Spending
National health spending rose a slight 3.9 percent in 2010, as Americans delayed hospital care, doctor's visits and prescription drug purchases for the second year in a row, the Obama administration reported Monday (Pear, 1/9).

Kaiser Health News: National Health Spending Grew Slowly In 2010
National health care spending grew slowly for the second consecutive year in 2010, bringing it in line with growth in the U.S. economy, the Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday (Werber Serafini, 1/9).

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Health Care Spending Rises 3.9% In 2010
But analysts said spending was likely to pick up as the economy improved and the health care law passed under President Obama begins to expand coverage to millions of people now uninsured (McGinley, 1/9).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Annual Growth In US Health Care Spending At Historic Lows; Experts Debate If Relief Will Last
The answers will be vital for Medicare's sustainability, as well as for workplace coverage. U.S. health care spending grew by 3.9 percent in 2010, reaching $2.6 trillion, according to the report by the Health and Human Services department (1/10).

The Wall Street Journal: Weak Economy Curbs Health Spending
The growth of health care spending was near a historic low at 3.9 percent in 2010 as the weak economy prompted people to cut back on medical care, according to data released by federal analysts (Radnofsky, 1/10).

Bloomberg: Spending Growth On Medicare, Medicaid Slows As Budgets Are Cut
Spending on the U.S. government's two big public health programs slowed in 2010 yet outlays still rose more than twice as fast as private health insurance expenditures because of the flagging economy, a federal report said. The U.S. and states combined to spend $401 billion on Medicaid, the health program for the poor, an increase of 7.2 percent. Outlays for Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled, rose 5 percent to $525 billion (Edney, 1/9).

National Journal: Americans Spend Less On Health Care; Recession To Blame
Health spending rose at historically low rates for the second year in a row as Americans struggled with unemployment and higher insurance bills, federal government researchers reported on Monday. Health spending increased by 3.9 percent from 2009 to 2010, the second-lowest rate of growth since the federal government started tracking health-spending data 51 years ago, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services researchers reported in the journal Health Affairs. The lowest rate of growth was 3.8 percent in 2009. The data show that the economic recession, which technically ended in 2009, continued to affect health spending well into 2010 (McCarthy and Quinton, 1/9).

NewsHour (Video): What's Slowing Down Americans' Health Care Spending?
A new government report shows that the rise in health care spending slowed for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, health insurance premiums continue to climb as workers pay an ever-growing share of the cost. Ray Suarez discusses what's behind these changes with Susan Dentzer of Health Affairs (1/9).

McClatchy/The Sacramento Bee: Health Care Spending Grows At Slower Rate
U.S. health care spending in 2010 grew at the second-slowest rate in 51 years, as patients continued to postpone hospitalizations, fill fewer drug prescriptions and avoid doctor visits in the aftermath of the Great Recession, according to a government report released Monday. … [H]igh unemployment, the loss of job-based health coverage and plummeting household incomes caused national health spending to slow almost immediately after the Great Recession began in December 2007 (Pugh, 1/10).

Medscape: Spending on Physician Services Continues to Slow Down
One of the most dramatic deacclerations was seen in prescription drugs, where spending growth went from 5.1 percent in 2009 to 1.2 percent in 2010. The authors chalked up this near-plateau in expenditures to the increasing use of generic drugs, the loss of patent protection for certain brand-name drugs, fewer new drugs making their debut, and slower growth in the volume of drugs consumed. This last factor reflected the decline in physician office visits, when the prescriptions are written, according to the authors (Lowes, 1/9). 

The Hill: White House Cheers News That Health Law Not Adding To Health Care Costs
The Obama administration on Monday cheered new evidence that the president's health care reform law isn't making health care more expensive. A new report from the Medicare actuaries found that health care spending grew by a near record low of 3.9 percent in 2010, with the health law contributing only 0.1 percentage points. The increase in National Health Expenditures is similar to the 3.8 percent increase in 2009, which saw the lowest rate of growth since the actuaries started keeping track in 1960 (Pecquet, 1/9).