Healthcare prices in October 2013 rose 0.9 percent above October 2012, the lowest reading in 50-plus years, according to a recent brief from the Altarum Institute.
The data come from the monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators (HSEI) briefs released by Altarum Institute’s Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
According to the December 2013 HSEI, prices for physician services rose by 0.2 percent while prescription drug prices rose by 0.5 percent. Hospital prices rose by 1.2 percent, the lowest rate since November 1998, held down by very low Medicare payment rate increases.
Altarum reports that national health expenditures in October 2013 grew 4.1 percent over October 2012. While trending up since July, expenditure growth remains near the low rate (3.9 percent) that the organization has observed for nearly five years, and the growth rate for the first 10 months of 2013 continues to hover near a record low of 3.8 percent. The health spending share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 17.4 percent in September, roughly where it has been since the end of the recession in 2009.
“Medicare hospital payment policies are playing a key role here, along with popular brand name prescription drugs coming off patent," said Charles Roehrig, director of the Center, in a statement. "Low price growth is helping to restrain the growth in health spending, but I expect some acceleration in the near future as the effects of the previous recession have likely played out and expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act kicks in.”