Health care spending rise at record low. (Short Takes).Health care spending in the U.S. increased by just 4.4 percent in 1996, the lowest rate in 37 years, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report released by Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. Total national health care spending topped the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever. National health expenditures reached $1.04 trillion, up from $991.4 billion in 1995. Public sector health care spending growth has also slowed. Medicare outlays Outlays Payments on obligations in the form of cash, checks, the issuance of bonds or notes, or the maturing of interest coupons. increased in 1996 by 8.1 percent, down from 10.6 percent in 1995. Changes being implemented through the Balanced Budget Balanced budget A budget in which the income equals expenditure. See: budget. balanced budget A budget in which the expenditures incurred during a given period are matched by revenues. Act of 1997 should slow Medicare growth even further. Projections by the Health Care Financing Administration Health Care Financing Administration, n.pr department in the U.S. agency of Health and Human Services responsible for the oversight of the Medicaid and Medicare benefit programs, including guidelines, payment, and coverage policies. actuaries who wrote the report are that Medicare spending growth per enrollee should drop from the 1996 rate of 6.5 percent to 2.5 percent in 1998. The study also shows taxpayers picking up more of the nation's health care tab. The portion of health care paid for by the government rose from 40 percent in 1989 to 47 percent in 1996. Between 1989 and 1996, public sector health spending increased an average of 9.7 percent, versus 5.8 percent in the private sector. The disparity dis·par·i·ty n. pl. dis·par·i·ties 1. The condition or fact of being unequal, as in age, rank, or degree; difference: "narrow the economic disparities among regions and industries" is due to increased Medicare enrollment, more Medicaid coverage, and slow growth in private sector insurance premiums. Employer-sponsored insurance premium growth reached a low of 3.6 percent in 1996. During the 1990s, employers have continued to shift a greater share of health insurance cost to employees, especially for the coverage of dependents, including children. Medicare and Medicaid Medicare and Medicaid U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. together financed $351 billion in health care services in 1996--more than one-third of the nation's total health care bill and nearly three-fourths of public health care spending. Medicaid spending by the federal and state governments totaled $147.7 billion, providing coverage to 36.1 million low-income Americans. Medicare paid $203.1 billion in benefits for 38.1 million aged and disabled enrollees. Health care spending as a share of gross domestic product remains at 13.6 percent, about where it has been since 1993, after almost a decade of increases. James A. Hawkins is Publisher of Healthcare Briefings, a newsletter available in print, on cassette, via fax, and on computer disk. He can be reached at 800/338-5486. |
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