Healthcare Costs Slow To Unprecedented Rate

[Star]

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Health costs are growing really slowly. Americans haven’t noticed.

Ask any health economist and they’ll no doubt tell you that health care cost growth is slowing, growing at a low, unprecedented rate.

They can point to the National Health Expenditures report, which shows health care costs now growing at the same rate as the rest of the economy. Or, they can pull up new data out Tuesday from the Kaiser Family Foundation, showing that premiums grew 4 percent in 2013. That’s way lower than growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s.


Ask any American about what direction health costs are moving, and you’ll likely get a completely different story. Preliminary results for a forthcoming Kaiser Family Foundation poll show that most Americans think that health care costs are actually growing faster than usual right now. Fewer than 10 percent say the growth is slowing down.


“We have a very moderate increase this year, but premiums go up each year,” Kaiser Family Foundation president Drew Altman says. “People see what they pay for their premium going up and perhaps more forms of cost-sharing. We’ve been seeing a quiet revolution from more comprehensive coverage to less.”

Altman said that preliminary results from his group’s survey show that 54 percent of Americans think health care costs are growing faster than average. “A tiny number said they were growing slower,” he says. “I think that’s because, if we look at this as a long term trend, health care costs have increased in excess of wages and inflation.”


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[dblack]

As is usual with this kind of corporatist cheerleading, the article is based on an equivocation. They deliberately confuse the federal health care spending with 'health costs'. Lying fucks.

 

[Greenbeard]

So we've got the group health insurance premium data out yesterday: Premiums for employer-sponsored coverage moderating, Kaiser study finds

Premiums paid by employers this year for their employees' family health coverage rose 4%, a relatively modest rate by historical standards, according to a survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since 2003, premiums have climbed 80%.

The latest health care price inflation data out five days ago: Health care price growth near historic low with negative prescription drug price growth

Health care price inflation in July 2013, at 1.1% year-over-year, is growing near a historically low rate – just above the May reading of 1.0% which is the lowest in our 23-plus year series. The 12-month moving average, at 1.6% in July 2013, represents the lowest level in our data.

And the latest economy-wide health spending data a few weeks ago: White House touts slow increase in health care costs

WASHINGTON — Personal health care costs rose in the 12 months ending in May at the slowest rate in the last 50 years, as spending on hospital and nursing home services declined, the White House announced Monday.

Personal consumption spending rose 1.1%, Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said. Hospital readmissions rates dropped from an average of 19% to 17.9% for Medicare patients since the passage of the 2010 health care law, Krueger said.

A series of recent government reports and industry analyses have shown a decrease in overall health care costs. In May, a Congressional Budget Office report showed a $618 billion drop in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next decade. A recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showed that for Americans who receive health insurance through their employers, premiums rose 3% from 2011 to 2012, the lowest increase since 1996.

Unprecedented indeed.

 

[dblack]

Cha-ching!

 

[Stephanie]

don't you love all the, historic,Unprecedented blaaa blaa bla

everything with Obama President is HISTORIC and all it took was electing him and BAM...cost are at HISTORIC LOWS

so much propaganda

 

[BillyV]

So we've got the group health insurance premium data out yesterday: Premiums for employer-sponsored coverage moderating, Kaiser study finds

Premiums paid by employers this year for their employees' family health coverage rose 4%, a relatively modest rate by historical standards, according to a survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since 2003, premiums have climbed 80%.

The latest health care price inflation data out five days ago: Health care price growth near historic low with negative prescription drug price growth

Health care price inflation in July 2013, at 1.1% year-over-year, is growing near a historically low rate – just above the May reading of 1.0% which is the lowest in our 23-plus year series. The 12-month moving average, at 1.6% in July 2013, represents the lowest level in our data.

And the latest economy-wide health spending data a few weeks ago: White House touts slow increase in health care costs

WASHINGTON — Personal health care costs rose in the 12 months ending in May at the slowest rate in the last 50 years, as spending on hospital and nursing home services declined, the White House announced Monday.

Personal consumption spending rose 1.1%, Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said. Hospital readmissions rates dropped from an average of 19% to 17.9% for Medicare patients since the passage of the 2010 health care law, Krueger said.

A series of recent government reports and industry analyses have shown a decrease in overall health care costs. In May, a Congressional Budget Office report showed a $618 billion drop in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next decade. A recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showed that for Americans who receive health insurance through their employers, premiums rose 3% from 2011 to 2012, the lowest increase since 1996.

Unprecedented indeed.

While this is presented as good news, your link regarding price inflation identifies the expected cause:

There are some signs that economic growth is accelerating from its disappointing trend, but weak growth continues to exert downward pressure on overall prices, and dramatically so for health care prices. Moreover, public payment rates are limiting price increases (most notably, the inpatient hospital payment rates for FY2014 include a net increase of 0.9%), and there is little ability for private payers to increase rates. We see very little likelihood of significantly higher health care prices in the near term.

So it's a good news/bad news kind of thing. Prices are lower because the economic conditions don't support any pricing power by the providers.

 

[Stephanie]

the whitehouse TOUTS...anyone believes anything that comes out this whitehouse ?

they can tout all they want, we the people are LIVING with all the higher prices FOR EVERYTHING

 

[Antares]

So we've got the group health insurance premium data out yesterday: Premiums for employer-sponsored coverage moderating, Kaiser study finds

Premiums paid by employers this year for their employees' family health coverage rose 4%, a relatively modest rate by historical standards, according to a survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since 2003, premiums have climbed 80%.

The latest health care price inflation data out five days ago: Health care price growth near historic low with negative prescription drug price growth

Health care price inflation in July 2013, at 1.1% year-over-year, is growing near a historically low rate – just above the May reading of 1.0% which is the lowest in our 23-plus year series. The 12-month moving average, at 1.6% in July 2013, represents the lowest level in our data.

And the latest economy-wide health spending data a few weeks ago: White House touts slow increase in health care costs

WASHINGTON — Personal health care costs rose in the 12 months ending in May at the slowest rate in the last 50 years, as spending on hospital and nursing home services declined, the White House announced Monday.

Personal consumption spending rose 1.1%, Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said. Hospital readmissions rates dropped from an average of 19% to 17.9% for Medicare patients since the passage of the 2010 health care law, Krueger said.

A series of recent government reports and industry analyses have shown a decrease in overall health care costs. In May, a Congressional Budget Office report showed a $618 billion drop in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending over the next decade. A recent study by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showed that for Americans who receive health insurance through their employers, premiums rose 3% from 2011 to 2012, the lowest increase since 1996.

Unprecedented indeed.

You've gone well beyond where you get the benefit of the doubt, you have arrived as an abject liar.

The gist of the article was that DEDUCTIBLES were higher thereby keeping Premiums lower.

Question for you liar.....

What happens when the Exchanges aren't ready and Jan 1 rolls around?

 

[Antares]

Just for you Greenie, from the same article....

And this actually aligns with a more conservative view of how health insurance ought to work, with coverage that, as health wonks describe it, puts “more skin in the game,” making the subscriber responsible for a greater part of his or her own health care costs.

How do these poor people who can't afford to buy insurance BEFORE Obamacare pay for their out of pocket expenses if something bad happens?

 

[Antares]

Run Greenie....run