Dive Brief:
- Last year, the U.S. federal government spent more on major healthcare programs than on Social Security for the first time, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.
- The ACA's Medicare expansions and availability of subsidies for exchange plans are driving up federal healthcare spending, Modern Healthcare reported.
- Released yesterday, the CBO report stated fewer people are purchasing insurance under the ACA than what they had previously predicted.
Dive Insight:
Last year, a total of $936 billion was spent on healthcare, compared with $866 billion on Social Security, CBO reported.
CBO's report dropped their projection of 21 million enrollments in ACA's insurance exchanges in 2016 to 13 million, though the exchanges represent a small amount of federal spending on healthcare. The group also found spending on federal healthcare programs, such as the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare, would increase by 11% this year, causing it to be the main reason why federal expenses will rise over the next decade.
According to the CBO report, federal spending on Medicaid will grow by $31 billion in 2016, a 8.8% year-over-year increase. Medicare is consuming the largest portion of healthcare spending with 55 million people enrolled in 2015.