CMS releases nat'l health expenditures for 2015

WASHINGTON - Per-capita healthcare spending grew by 5% and overall healthcare spending grew by 5.8% in 2015, according to a recent study by the Office of the Actuary at CMS.

Those rates continue to be below the rates of most years prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

“Even as millions of people gained coverage, per-enrollee spending growth in private health insurance and Medicare continue to be well below the average in the decade before passage of the Affordable Care Act,” CMS stated.

The report concludes that expenditure growth in 2015 was primarily the result of increased use and intensity of services as millions gained health coverage, as well as continued significant growth in spending for retail prescription drugs.

On a per-enrollee basis, overall spending increased by 4.5% for private health insurance, 1.7% for Medicare and 3.8% for Medicaid.

Healthcare spending grew 2.1% faster than the overall economy in 2015, resulting in a 0.4% increase in the health spending share of gross domestic product, from 17.4% in 2014 to 17.8% in 2015. In the decade prior to the passage of the ACA (2000-09), healthcare spending increased 2.8% faster than GDP on an annual average basis.

Per-enrollee Medicare spending increased by 1.7%, about the same rate as in 2014 and below the average annual growth in per-enrollee spending during 2000-09 of 7%. Medicare spending, which represented 20% of national total healthcare spending in 2015, grew 4.5% to $646.2 billion.

Overall Medicaid spending and enrollment grew at a slower rate in 2015 than in 2014 with per-enrollee spending increasing 3.8%. Medicaid spending, which totaled $545.1 billion, accounted for 17% of total spending on health care. Similarly, growth in Medicaid enrollment slowed to 5.7% in 2015, significantly lower than the 2014 increase of 11.1%.

Out-of-pocket spending, which includes direct consumer payments such as copayments, deductibles and spending not covered by insurance, but excludes premiums, grew 2.6% in 2015, compared to the average annual growth during 2000-09 of 4.6%.