Cornerstone Municipal Reports that Healthcare Spending in America Slows in 2009 and 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 7, 2012 -- According to recent federal data, healthcare spending in America increased in 2009 and 2010 at its lowest rate in five decades, keeping pace with the overall growth of the economy. According to the New York Times, total health care spending by public and private sources, including households, rose by 3.8 percent in 2009 and 3.9 percent in 2010. Spending slowed for hospital care, physician services, nursing homes, home care and especially prescription drugs, as consumers increasingly chose cheaper generics.

Growth in spending by both Medicare and Medicaid actually slowed in 2010 compared with 2009, even though the federal government ramped up its share of the nation’s total health care spending while private businesses reduced their share.

The new data leaves experts torn on how this development should be interpreted. Many believe that due to the recession millions of Americans became unemployed and were unable to afford the medical care they needed. The fear of this theory is that many of the sick will become sicker, which in turn will lead to far more expensive trips to the hospital in the future. On the other hand, some believe that new rules and regulations put in place to eliminate medical care that was unnecessary combined with the increase in availability of generic prescription drugs, helped medical savings increase. Both conclusions may be correct.

According to experts, the 2010 health care law has had little impact on total spending, even though some of its provisions like prescription drug rebates for Medicare beneficiaries, have already been implemented.
The real impact will come in 2014 when the expansion of Medicaid takes effect and a new federal subsidy program for low- and middle-income Americans is launched.

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