Health Beat: Total Health Spend Projected to Reach 20% of Nation’s GDP By 2024
by July 29, 2015 6:24 am 127 views
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TOTAL HEALTH SPEND PROJECTED TO REACH 20% OF NATION’S GDP BY 2024
The healthcare share of U.S. gross domestic product is projected to rise from 17.4% in 2013 to 19.6% in 2024, or about one dollar out of every five dollars spent in the U.S. economy, according to a new projections released Tuesday by the Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Overall, health spending growth in the United States is projected to average 5.8% for 2014–24, reflecting the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions, faster economic growth, and population aging, the report states.
“Growth in overall health spending remains modest even as more Americans are covered, many for the first time. Per-capita spending and medical inflation are all at historically very modest levels,” said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt. “We cannot be complacent. The task ahead for all of us is to keep people healthier while spending smarter across all categories of care delivery so that we can sustain these results.”
In 2014, health spending in the United States is projected to have reached $3.1 trillion, or $9,695 per person, and to have increased by 5.5% from the previous year as millions gained health insurance coverage and as new expensive specialty drugs hit the market. Prescription drug spending alone increased 12.6% in 2014, the highest growth since 2002. While more people are getting coverage, annual growth in per-enrollee expenditures in 2014 for private health insurance (5.4%), Medicare (2.7%) and Medicaid (-0.8%) remained slow in historical terms.
To see additional highlights of the CMS report, click here.
FDA APPROVES NEW BALLOON DEVICE TO TREAT OBESITY
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new balloon device to treat obesity without the need for invasive surgery. The ReShape Integrated Dual Balloon System (ReShape Dual Balloon) is intended to aid weight loss in obese adult patients by occupying space in the stomach, which may trigger feelings of fullness, “or by other mechanisms that are not yet understood,” FDA officials said,
“For those with obesity, significant weight loss and maintenance of that weight loss often requires a combination of solutions including efforts to improve diet and exercise habits,” said William Maisel, M.D., M.P.H., acting director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “This new balloon device provides doctors and patients with a new non-surgical option that can be quickly implanted, is non-permanent, and can be easily removed.”
To learn more about this new weight-loss device, click here.
PRIVATE OPTION ELIGIBLES INCREASE AGAIN, BUT NUMBER COULD DROP
The total number of Arkansans eligible for the private option reached 259,335 in June, while the total average cost per private option recipient fell 89 cents, the Arkansas Department of Human Services announced Monday. The 259,335 figure represents an increase of 4,586 over May, when 254,749 were eligible. The department had previously announced it had paid premiums for 218,376 recipients in June, an increase from 214,461 in May.
STATE GROUP TO RECEIVE FEDERAL GRANT TO PROMOTE HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology was among the 20 awardees for three health information technology grant programs totaling about $38 million, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced Tuesday.
The grants are part of the Obama administration’s efforts to create an interoperable learning health system that achieves better care, smarter spending and healthier people.
The grants build on programs funded from the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), part of the American Recovery and Revitalization Act (ARRA) of 2009. To learn more, click here.