Dive Brief:
- Healthcare spending will increase faster than previously projected over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projects.
- The difference, while a mere one-tenth of a percentage point overall, would add $272 billion to healthcare costs between 2016 and 2025.
- Higher Medicare costs are being cited for the increase.
Dive Insight:
On a percentage basis, the nudge in the 10-year projection hardly seems to matter. However, it says something about the enormity of federal healthcare spending that a mere one-tenth of a percentage point increase could cost the government nearly a quarter trillion dollars.
It's also expected to swallow a larger chunk of the nation's gross domestic product. The spending will take up an estimated 5.2% of GDP this year but that figure will hit 6.2% by 2025, the CBO projects.