Health care costs saw significant growth in 2014
Health care costs saw significant growth in 2014, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The federal agency has noted that health care expenditures are accelerating, with consumers and businesses spending a great deal of money on insurance coverage. As costs continue to grow, consumers are beginning to feel significant financial pressure. Finding a way to reduce health insurance costs is beginning to become a priority for the country, but an effective solution has yet to be found.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services highlights the growth of health insurance costs
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, total health care spending in the United States reached $3.031 trillion in 2014. This is approximately $9,523 per person with health insurance coverage. This represents a 5.3% increase in health care costs over what they had been in 2013. One of the reasons health care costs have grown so much is because of the expansion of health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act has made insurance coverage much more available to consumers throughout the country, which has lead to increased costs.
Many people receive subsidies from the federal government for their coverage
Approximately 5.4 million people, which had initially been uninsured, have managed to find coverage through insurance exchanges and other channels. The majority of consumers that found coverage recently also receive subsidies from the federal government, which help lower the cost of health insurance coverage.
Prescription medication is growing more costly
Another issue that is contributing to the growth of health care costs is the rising cost of prescription medications. The cost of these medications grew by 12.2% in 2014, reaching $297.7 billion. This increase spending came from the growing prevalence of specialty medications, particularly those used to treat hepatitis C. When it comes to insurance costs, spending in the private health insurance market grew by 4.4%, reaching $991 billion in 2014. Higher costs may create some problems for consumers and businesses in the future, but reducing health care costs has proven to be a difficult issue for the country.
