Per-person health spending levels climbed, study finds
October 29th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
Washington — A retreat from strict forms of managed care has helped drive up growth in national per-capita health spending, according to a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report. Average annual per-person expenditures increased 6.3% from 1998 to 2004, compared with a 4.8% increase between 1991 and 1998.
Managed care plans, especially HMOs, held spending in check during the 1990s, said CMS economist Anne Martin, who co-authored the study. Expenditures rebounded when HMOs became less popular and other options, such as PPOs, became more so.