Health care spending rose in 2015 by a 5.5 percent increase over 2014's spending, and that rate of increase is likely to rise in years to come.
That's according to Modern Healthcare, which reported that the U.S. health care system spent $3.2 trillion in 2015, or almost $10,000 for every person, according to the latest federal projections. The rate of increase in 2014 was 5.3 percent, and while a lot of that additional spending is due to more people being insured under the Affordable Care Act, the rate increase is not as high as in previous years.
However, government economists are predicting that health care spending is going to increase by an average of 5.8 percent annually for the next 10 years. And health care occupies more of a share of the economy than it ought, accounting for 17.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2015. That share, estimate actuaries from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid, will rise to 20.1 percent by 2025, thanks to more people aging into Medicare and needing more health care.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
