Thursday, January 15, 2004

Health Spending Accelerated Again in 2002
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "U.S. spending on healthcare reached $1.6 trillion in 2002, according to official government statistics released Thursday, accounting for 14.9% of total domestic spending. The 9.3% increase over the previous year was more than twice the rate of growth for the economy as a whole, the fourth consecutive year that health spending has outpaced total economic growth. Hospital spending continued to account for the largest share of growth in health spending, rising 9.5% to $486.5 billion. Analysts from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who produced the report, attributed the increases to a variety of factors, including hospitals' ability to win higher payments from insurance companies and higher wages resulting from a shortage of nurses and other health professionals." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].