Public, private insurance, out-of-pocket payments increased by 2.9, 2.6, and 1.1 percent annually
TUESDAY, March 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) — From 1996 to 2016, there were considerable increases in U.S. spending on health care, according to a study published in the March 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Joseph L. Dieleman, Ph.D., from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, and colleagues estimated U.S. spending on health care according to public insurance, private insurance, or out-of-pocket payments in 1996 to 2016 for 154 health conditions.
The researchers observed an increase in total health care spending, from an estimated $1.4 trillion in 1996 to an estimated $3.1 trillion in 2016. In 2016, an estimated 48.0, 42.6, and 9.4 percent of health care spending was paid by private insurance, public insurance, and out-of-pocket payments, respectively. Among the 154 health conditions, low back and neck pain had the highest amount of health care spending in 2016, with an estimated $134.5 billion in spending (57.2, 33.7, and 9.2 percent paid by private insurance, public insurance, and out-of-pocket payments, respectively). After adjustment for changes in inflation, population size, and age groups, public and private insurance and out-of-pocket payments were estimated to have increased at annualized rates of 2.9, 2.6, and 1.1 percent, respectively.
“These estimates have the potential to augment the understanding of what health conditions are leading to spending for each payer, as well as to allow for population- and age-adjusted comparisons of spending across time for each payer,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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