Healthcare spending appears to be picking up after a period of growth that was slower than expected.
Data released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau says that inflation-adjusted spending on health services grew by 4.1 percent in 2014, more than double the 1.9 percent growth the year before.
Those numbers could affect how much the Obama administration credits the Affordable Care Act for affecting health care spending. As reports last year showed health spending growing more slowly than expected, officials claimed that’s because of changes made by the health care law — even though most experts say spending slowed due to the economic downturn.
But now the five-year streak of slower spending growth may be over.
In addition to the census data, new estimates from the Altarum Institute indicate the trend is continuing this year. National health spending in January was 5.7 percent higher than spending in January 2014, the firm estimates. Health spending now accounts for between 17-18 percent of gross domestic product.
Besides the improved economy, the increased spending growth could also be due to newer, more expensive drugs like Solvadi — the new hepatitis C drug — entering the market combined with a surge of more people accessing health services now that they have coverage through the new insurance marketplaces.
