News Briefs: Health Care Spending Growth Slows in 2021 After Pandemic Spike
U.S. health care spending grew 2.7% to reach $4.3 trillion in 2021, representing a slowdown in growth compared to the 10.3% increase recorded in 2020. That’s according to the 2021 National Health Expenditures Report from CMS’s Office of the Actuary, which attributed the spending-growth slowdown to a 3.5% year-over-year decline in health care expenditures from federal government that jumped in 2020 amid the COVID-19 response. The decline in government spending “more than offset” the impact of greater insurance coverage and higher health care utilization seen in 2021. The report also noted that private health insurance spending increased by 5.8% in 2021 to reach $1.2 trillion.