Health spending growth gap continues between public and private payers

Dive Brief:

• Altarum Center for Value in Health Care’s second-quarter Health Sector Trend Report found that healthcare costs increased by 5% year-over-year in the past quarter, outpacing the first quarter (4.6%) and the overall first half of the year (4.8%).

• Private payer spending has grown faster than public payers since 2016 though the difference closed slightly in the second quarter compared with the first of 2018, according to the report based on Census data.

• Despite the moderate growth rate, Altarum warned several factors could accelerate cost growth, including changes to health insurance laws, an economic downturn and the impact of the aging population.

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