business
Medical price growth outpaced inflation in October
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 28, 2011
The amount of money paid for medical care went up faster than inflation in the rest of economy in October, according to the consumer price index released Nov. 16 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The consumer price index declined 0.1% in October, but medical care expenses went up 0.5%. The price paid for professional services, a category that includes physicians, went up 0.3% in October. The cost of hospital care grew 0.6%.
However, health care inflation, at an annual rate, is below the overall inflation rate. Overall prices grew 3.5% during the last 12 months, according to BLS, but the growth in health care was only 3.1%. Professional services prices went up 2.2%, and hospital care cost grew by 4.9% (a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/11/28/bibf1128.htm.
