Healthcare spending in 2015 increased at a rate of 5.8% as more people obtained health insurance and prescription drug costs continued to rise, according to a CMS report released last week.
For the first time, the federal government accounted for the largest share of healthcare spending at 29%, mainly because of Medicaid expansion in states that receive 100% funding to cover expansion costs for the first three years.
Household spending made up 28%, private businesses were 20% and state and local governments were 17%.
Federal government spending grew at a rate of 8.9% in 2015 after an 11% increase in 2014.
The 2015 increase follows a 5.3% spending increase in 2014, which came after five years of historically slow growth. National healthcare expenditures represented nearly 18% of the GDP in 2015.
Spending in 2015 reached $3.2 trillion, or $9,990 per person. The report's authors predict continued growth in health spending over the next decade because of the aging population and continued medical price growth.
Although the 9% increase in prescription drug spending was lower than the 2014 rate of 12.4%, it was the fastest growth of any service in 2015. This was mainly due to new, high-cost medications to treat hepatitis C, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Private health insurance continues to be the largest payer of healthcare and accounted for about one-third of total spending in 2015. Medicare spending increased 4.5% and was 20% of total spending while Medicaid expenditures grew 9.7% and accounted for 17% of overall spending.
Spending growth for physicians and clinical services was 6.3% and that category accounted for 20% of all healthcare spending. Hospital spending was 32% of overall spending and increased at a rate of 5.6%.
