In a report carried by the Huffington Post of 2/15/17 the Independent Office Of The Actuary At The Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that the cost of health care (paid by business, individuals and government) for the year 2016 rose 4.8%, 1% lower than the previous year to $3.4 trillion. And that health care cost will rise 5.8% a year from 2016 thru 2025.
The report also said: (1) These reports are also consistent with earlier findings and projections from the federal actuaries, but are subject to a great deal of uncertainty because President Donald Trump and the republican controlled congress plan to make major changes to the health care system that make accurately predicting the future next to impossible. (2) Despite the uptick in spending growth that began three years ago, national health care expenditures are on track to rise at a considerably slower rate than in previous decades. (3) Health care spending grew at an average of 4.4% a year from 2008 to 2014, lower than the 5.6% percent projected for the next 10 years, but much lower than the nearly 8% annual rate during the two decades before 2007. (this writers note: Obamacare was no where around during those two decades.) (4) What ever the causes, national health care spending is actually lower than the federal actuaries projected in 2010, before the Affordable Care Act became law. Between 2014 and 2019 the U.S. is projected to spend $2.6 trillion less on health care than the actuaries previously predicted, despite the added costs associated with the Affordable Care Act's coverage expansion.
This report is in line with the projections given by the Centers in 2016 that was the subject of this writers commentary at the time. The latest report also contradicts the lies and misinformation given out by President Trump and the republicans in congress that the Affordable Care Act is bankrupting the U.S. with massive increases in health care cost. In fact as the report shows health care cost increased almost 8% annually for the two decades prior to 2008 and the ACA was not even a thought.
Twenty million Americans have been insured by the ACA and the percentage of the uninsured is at a historic low. The republican party has a track record about misinforming the people that they have a better plan when they do not. In fact they are now talking about not replacing the ACA any more, they changed it to repairing the ACA because they can not come up with a plan.
Those 20 million newly insured will help bring health care cost down in the future because they will be able to practice preventive medicine and stay healthier. The reports bottom line is that health care costs are rising at a moderate rate and is projected to do so for the next ten years.
But America beware, the Republican party is known for its huge increase in federal spending and its record of record deficit spending. And President Trump has also made it known his intentions of an increase in federal spending. So be prepared for more lies and misinformation coming out of the administration.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
