Dive Brief:
- Health care spending shot up over the last three months as millions of people obtained coverage under the ACA, according to a report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- Bloomberg reported that the 9.9% rise in health spending — the largest spike since 1980 — was largely driven by greater use of health services, prescriptions for higher-priced drugs and elective surgeries.
- Other experts agree with the Bureau's conclusion that the ACA has driven spending, specifically in increased utilization rather than pricing, Ceci Connolly, managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute told Bloomberg.
Dive Insight:
According to FierceHealthPayer, some experts have predicted that medical spending will grow faster than the economy during the next 20 years. But given the short amount of time it's been since the closing of the first year's ACA enrollment, it may be too soon to predict what pricing trends will be, as there's still a lot of factors in play, such as the extent to which young people continue to enroll in the ACA marketplace plans.