Health Care Inflation Down. Expenditures Up.

Despite health care inflation heading down, more is being spent as consumers seek more health care.

Bozeman, Montana (PRWEB) January 30, 2004 --annual health care inflation continued a steady decline throughout last year according to a report by HealthINFLATION News, a monthly newsletter which tracks Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation reports.

In 2003 health care inflation dropped from close to five percent in January to 3.7% in December primarily from a sharp drop in hospital care inflation. Hospital Care inflation dropped from a five year peak of near ten percent in January to slightly near six percent in December.

In contrast health care expenditures continue to climb with the government recently reporting Health Care spending rose 9.3 percent in 2002.

Although medical care spending rose significantly during 2002, only part of the increase can be attributed to medical care inflation. Once medical care inflation, as measured by the CPI, is removed, spending is up over 4 percent, reflecting a complex shift in the number and types of treatments purchased," according to Dan Ginsburg of the U.S. Bureau Labor Statistics.

Consumers, however, may not see the benefits of reduced inflation in prices and fees for their health care. Many face an increase in their out-of-pocket costs from double-digit increases in insurance premiums and cost shifting by employers to higher deductibles and co-pays--the rate of these increases far exceed the current rate of health care inflation.

HealthINFLATION News is published monthly, reporting health care inflation for the four U.S. regions and 14 major metropolitan areas.

Graph Caption
Health care inflation increased from 3.4% in 1998 to five percent in 2002 then dropped back to 3.7% in December 2003.
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