Dive Brief:
- New statistics released Wednesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce provide an update of what the U.S. spends on healthcare per person based on data from 2013, as well as what it spends to treat specific diseases and medical conditions.
- The report provides a different perspective on healthcare spending than reports that break out spending data by place of service, such as hospital or doctor’s office, the bureau noted.
- It found spending per person and the average expenditure to treat medical conditions each increased at the rate of 1.9% from 2012 to 2013, compared to 5.4% and 4.3%, respectively, between 2000 and 2012.
Dive Insight:
Insights into healthcare spending are paramount given that it accounts for upwards of 17% of the U.S. economy, and scrutiny is higher than ever amid debate around impacts from the ACA.
Provisions of the health law began rolling out from 2010 through 2012, including the new "patient bill of rights" and many cost-free preventive services. However, it wasn't until 2013 when the first marketplace open enrollment took place for 2014 coverage, meaning the impacts from marketplace plans are not reflected in the current report.
The statistics are also framed by recent findings from Bloomberg that ranked the U.S. healthcare system 50th of 55 countries for life expectancy, spending per capita, and relative spending as a share of gross domestic product.
Recent data from the Congressional Budget Office also adds a twist to the overall picture with its finding that increases in federal spending are being driven by the aging population and increased prescription drug spending, which are not letting up soon. "Although healthcare spending grew more slowly in the past several years than it has historically, CBO projects that spending per enrollee in federal healthcare programs will grow more rapidly over the coming decade than it has in recent years," the agency stated.
Among the additional key highlights of the new BEA statistics:
- The cost for treating digestive conditions increased the fastest in 2013 at 6.9%, a rate 1% faster than from the average across 2000 to 2012.
- The cost for treating mental illness grew at the slowest pace in 2013, at 0.5%, which was 2% slower than during the 2000-2012 period.
- The top three spending disease categories for 2013 were symptoms, circulatory, and musculoskeletal, which were also the top categories in 2012.