Health spending grew just 4.9 percent from December 2014 to December 2015, continuing a steady decline from a peak of 6.8 percent in February 2015, according to research and consulting group Altarum Institute.
"This pattern is consistent with the expectation that spending growth would increase with expanded coverage and then drop back as coverage levelled off. The latest spurt in health sector hiring is a bit at odds with the spending slowdown, and it will be interesting to see how this resolves in the coming months," Charles Roehrig, founding director of the center.
Spending on hospitals and prescription drugs, each of which is growing at less than half the rate observed in February, led the decline.
For 2015 as a whole, health spending growth averaged 5.9 percent, the highest rate since 2007, the year preceding the recession.
Healthcare prices were 1.2 percent higher in December 2015 than they were a year prior, and up from 1.1 percent in November. This marked an upward trend from its all-time low rate of 0.9 percent in September 2015.
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While still just barely negative at minus one-tenth of one percent, price growth for physician and clinical services has bounced back from yearlong figures hovering around positive 1 percent.
From a multi-decade high of 6.4 percent for prescription drugs in December 2014, there's been steady moderation leading up to its December 2015 rate of 2.4 percent.
Finally, the health sector added 36,800 jobs in January, representing about a quarter of all new non-farming jobs. Close to two-thirds of those were in hospitals, which added 23,700 jobs -- twice as many as the 12,000 added in December. Consistent with the pattern over the past few months, health jobs grew 3.2 percent year over year, with non-health jobs growing at 1.7 percent, which puts the health share of total employment at 10.71 percent, a new all-time high.
Twitter: @JELagasse