WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says health care spending will jump by 6.1 percent next year as the big coverage expansion in President Barack Obama’s overhaul kicks in.
That’s more than 2 percentage points higher than the growth rate forecast for this year. The rate of growth in health care spending for the past four years has hovered under 4 percent — historically low.
The government attributes much of the increase next year to the new health care program, which is expected to provide insurance coverage to millions of currently uninsured Americans beginning Jan. 1.
Without it, the projected growth next year would be 4.5 percent.
The reports say that over the longer term, the health overhaul would only be a modest contributor to spending increases.
