Report: Healthcare Spending to Top $10,000 in 2016; Will Continue Steady Growth

By Jill Drachenberg, Managing Editor, AHC Media

Healthcare spending rates are rising, though growth is still slower than previously expected, according to a new report.

Spending rates in 2015 reached 5.5% for a total of $3.2 trillion, up from 5.3% in 2014. Spending per person also will top $10,000 for the first time. The report’s economists project the growth rate to increase by an average of 5.8% per year between now and 2025 – 1.3% higher than the gross domestic product is expected to grow.

By 2025, one in every five Americans will be on Medicare, at a cost $18,000 per beneficiary per year – well above the $12,000 per beneficiary rate in 2015. In the same time frame, Medicaid is expected to average $12,500 per person.

Economists attribute the growth in healthcare spending to a couple of factors: an improving economy with higher incomes and more money to spend on healthcare services, as well as an increase in drug prices and use of high-cost drugs.

Healthcare spending by state, local, and federal governments also is expected to grow to 47% by 2025.

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