The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may give physicians headaches, but it
is also giving them more insured patients, which is the main reason why
expenditures on physicians services grew at a far faster clip in 2014
than 2013, government actuaries reported yesterday.
Overall public and private spending on healthcare last year rose 5.3% compared with 2.9% in 2013, ending a 5-year run of historically low growth, according to an analysis issued by the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicaid Services (CMS). The study, published in Health Affairs, attributed the surge primarily to the dramatic expansion of Medicaid and private insurance coverage under the healthcare reform law.
At $3 trillion, healthcare spending in 2014 accounted for 17.5% of the gross domestic product, an uptick from 17.3% in 2013.
The amount individuals, private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, and all other third-party payers spent on physician services grew by 4.6% in 2014. That compares with 1.7% the year before, which was the lowest growth rate since the early 2000s, when annual spending on physician services was climbing by 8% or more. In addition to seeing more insured patients, primary care physicians in particular benefitted last year from higher Medicaid and Medicare fees authorized by the ACA. However, the Medicaid raise expired in 2015, and the extra money from Medicare runs out at the end of December.
Overall public and private spending on healthcare last year rose 5.3% compared with 2.9% in 2013, ending a 5-year run of historically low growth, according to an analysis issued by the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicaid Services (CMS). The study, published in Health Affairs, attributed the surge primarily to the dramatic expansion of Medicaid and private insurance coverage under the healthcare reform law.
At $3 trillion, healthcare spending in 2014 accounted for 17.5% of the gross domestic product, an uptick from 17.3% in 2013.
The amount individuals, private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, and all other third-party payers spent on physician services grew by 4.6% in 2014. That compares with 1.7% the year before, which was the lowest growth rate since the early 2000s, when annual spending on physician services was climbing by 8% or more. In addition to seeing more insured patients, primary care physicians in particular benefitted last year from higher Medicaid and Medicare fees authorized by the ACA. However, the Medicaid raise expired in 2015, and the extra money from Medicare runs out at the end of December.
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