Government
Health spending growth drops again
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted June 28, 2004
For the second consecutive year, the rate of increase of health care spending by private insurers has slowed.
| All Services | Physicians | Hospital inpatient | Hospital outpatient | Prescription drugs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 2.1% | 1.7% | -2.0% | 8.7% | 5.2% |
| 1995 | 2.2% | 1.9% | -3.5% | 7.9% | 10.6% |
| 1996 | 2.0% | 1.6% | -4.4% | 7.7% | 11.0% |
| 1997 | 3.3% | 3.4% | -5.3% | 9.5% | 11.5% |
| 1998 | 5.3% | 4.7% | -0.2% | 7.5% | 14.1% |
| 1999 | 7.1% | 5.0% | 1.6% | 10.2% | 18.4% |
| 2000 | 7.8% | 6.3% | 4.1% | 9.8% | 14.5% |
| 2001 | 10.0% | 6.7% | 8.7% | 14.6% | 13.8% |
| 2002 | 9.5% | 6.5% | 8.4% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| 2003 | 7.4% | 5.1% | 6.5% | 11.0% | 9.1% |
One reason is a slowdown in spending growth for physician services, which indicates that the impact of the shift to looser managed care types is exhausted. Spending increases in other health care sectors are also down.
Source: Health Affairs, May/June
Copyright © 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
