Health spending hit $11K per person in 2018: 7 more notes

National healthcare spending hit a record $3.6 trillion in 2018, which equates to roughly $11,172 per person, according to an analysis from CMS' Office of the Actuary published in Health Affairs.

Here are seven quick things to know about healthcare spending in 2018:

1. National healthcare spending grew 4.6 percent in 2018, slightly faster than 2017's 4.2 percent growth.

2. CMS primarily attributes this accelerated growth in spending to increases in the cost of health insurance, stemming from the reinstatement of the health insurance tax after a one-year hiatus. Spending growth was on par with 2016, when the tax was in effect, according to the report.

3. Faster growth in medical prices also contributed to spending growth. Medical prices accelerated at a rate of 2.1 percent, compared to 1.3 percent in 2017. This accelerated growth outpaced slower growth in the use and intensity of healthcare goods and services.

4. Hospital spending hit $1.2 trillion in 2018, accounting for a third of overall healthcare spending. Growth in hospital spending stayed relatively flat from 2017-18.

5. By comparison, physician and clinical services accounted for $725.6 billion in 2018, and retail prescription drugs accounted for $335 billion.

6. Despite the growth in national health spending, the economy grew faster. National health spending accounted for 17.7 percent of GDP, down from 17.9 percent in 2017.

7. One million more Americans joined the ranks of uninsured for the second year in a row. There were 30.7 million uninsured people in the U.S. in 2018.

Read more here.

 

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