HC Statistics

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Is Medicare cost growth slowing?

August 20, 2011 in HC Statistics | No comments

Ezra Klein reports that this may in fact be the case according to S&P Healthcare Economics.

S&P Health Economics Index“This chart shows per-patient Medicare revenue falling to a 2.5 percent growth rate, the lowest since S&P Indices started tracking numbers six years ago. At the very top of the this chart you see the ‘commercial index’ — which is mostly private insurance companies — seeing some drop-off, too, but not nearly at the rate in Medicare.”

I would not read too much into this.  The decreasing per patient cost could be due to factors such as: a larger share Medicare beneficiaries are now baby boomers who are relatively healthier than Medicare population from previous years or the bad economy may make people less willing to pay the deductibles and co-payments required to receive medical services.  We will see if health spending growth will continue this slowing trend into the future.

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Statistics from the Medicare Trustees Report

July 19, 2011 in HC Statistics, Medicare | 1 comment

Basic Statistics
In 2010, 47.5 million people were covered by Medicare: 39.6 million aged 65 and older, and 7.9 million disabled. About 25 percent of beneficiaries have chosen to enroll in Part C private health plans that contract with Medicare to provide Part A and Part B health services. Total benefits paid in 2010 were $516 billion. Income was $486 billion, expenditures were $523 billion, and assets held in special issue U.S. Treasury securities were $344 billion.

Total Medicare expenditures have risen by 9.0 percent per year since 2000. Enrollment growth during that time was only 1.8 percent per year; thus, a per capita growth rate of 7.0 percent is driving overall Medicare growth. For more statistics, see here.

Fiscal Solvency
The financial status of the HI [Hospital Insurance] trust fund was substantially improved by the lower expenditures and additional tax revenues instituted by the Affordable Care Act. However, the HI trust fund is now estimated to be exhausted in 2024, 5 years earlier than was shown in last year’s report, and the fund is not adequately financed over the next 10 years.

Office of the Actuary (OACT) Forecasts
Medicare expenditures represented 3.6 percent of GDP in 2010. Under current law, costs would increase to about 5.6 percent of GDP by 2035 under the intermediate assumptions and to 6.2 percent of GDP by the end of the 75-year period. However, it is important to note that Medicare expenditures are almost certainly understated because of unrealistic substantial reductions in physician payments scheduled under current law and may be further understated (and to a greater degree).

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Medicare Dashboards

June 24, 2011 in HC Statistics, Medicare | 2 comments

For which drugs does Medicare spend the most money?  For which inpatient hospital treatments does Medicare have the highest expenses.  CMS’s new Dashboards provide an easy to use source to access these high level summary statistics.  You can find this information here:

For instance, some results from the Prescription Drug Benefit Dashboard include:

Drug Class 2008 Drug Cost ($)
ANTIHYPERLIPIDEMICS $6,165,831,884
ANTIPSYCHOTICS/ANTIMANIC AGENTS $5,698,011,103
ANTIDIABETICS $4,688,777,238
ULCER DRUGS $4,411,792,980
ANTIHYPERTENSIVES $4,177,531,157
ANTIASTHMATIC AND BRONCHODILATOR AGENTS $3,598,966,726
ANTICONVULSANTS $3,288,116,849
PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC AND NEUROLOGICAL AGENTS – MISC. $3,112,790,209
ANTIDEPRESSANTS $2,835,474,451
ANALGESICS – OPIOID $2,578,161,329

 

Drug Class 2008 Drug Cost ($)
LIPITOR $2,397,843,000
PLAVIX $2,305,145,585
NEXIUM $1,487,052,730
SEROQUEL $1,462,338,499
ARICEPT $1,326,144,339
ZYPREXA $1,229,061,198
ADVAIR DISKUS $1,213,298,009
ACTOS $1,062,975,107
PREVACID $848,394,558
ABILIFY $837,090,968

More publicly available government statistics can also be found at Data.gov.

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Share of Federal Budget Spent on Health Care Jumped in 2009

June 20, 2011 in HC Statistics | 1 comment

In 2008, 38 percent of the federal government’s revenue was spent on health care.  In 2009, however, this figure jumped to 54 percent of total revenues.  Although federal health spending only increased by 17.9%, a decline in revenues of a similar magnitude caused this large change.  Surprisingly, state and local spending on healthcare barely budged.  In 2008, state an local spending was 26 percent of total revenues, and this figure only inched up to 27 percent in 2009.  In 2009, households still contributed 6% of their income (just like in 2008) and business’s health care expense remained constant at 8 percent of cost in 2009.

Other highlights from the California Health Care Foundation’s 2011 edition of Healthcare 101 include:

  • Health spending grew 4.0% in 2009, an all-time low, and the smallest annual increase on record.
  • While health spending by private insurers only grew 1.3% in 2009, Medicare spending grew by 7.9% and Medicaid by 9.0%.
  • Households contribute the largest share to the financing of health care (28%) followed closely by the federal government (27%).
  • Spending on home health care (10.0%) grew the fastest, while spending on the capital-intensive category, structures and equipment, declined (– 2.7%).
  • In 2009, spending growth on prescription drugs rose for the first time since 2006, to 5.3%.
  • Hospital care (31%) and physician and clinical services (20%) account for slightly more than half of all health spending.

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    Medicare Spending by Program Service Categories, 2010

    April 14, 2011 in HC Statistics, Medicare | 1 comment

    Medicare is the largest payer in the $2.5 trillion dollar health care sector.  Medicare made up one-fifth of that amount.  Where does this money go?  In a previous post I examined where Medicare payments went in 2008, and today I update those figures for 2010.

    Source: MedPAC. Report to The Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, March 2011.

    Healthcare Maps from RAC

    March 17, 2011 in HC Statistics | 1 comment

    The Rural Assistance Center (RAC) works with the Center for Applied Research and Environmental Systems (CARES) to create a variety of access to care maps. For some reason, I love maps.  Today, I will show you a few which may peek your interest.

    More maps below…

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    Largest one-year jump in health spending

    March 3, 2011 in HC Statistics | 1 comment

    According to a recent Health Affairs paper, health care spending as a share of GDP grew by the largest percentage point increase since the U.S. government has tracked national health expenditure.  Not only did the numerator (health spending) increase–especially for public spending–but the denominator also decreased (i.e., GDP).  The article begins as follows:

    “National health spending is estimated to have grown 5.7 percent and reached $2.5 trillion in 2009, despite a projected 1.1 percent decline in gross domestic product, up from 4.4 percent in 2008. The result is an expected rise in the health share of GDP of 1.1 percentage points, to 17.3 percent. This projected rate of escalation would represent the largest one-year increase in the health share of GDP since the National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) began tracking health spending in 1960, and it reflects the severity of the recession that began in 2007…

    Health spending by public payers ($1.2 trillion) is projected to have grown much faster in 2009 (8.7 percent) than that of private payers (3.0 percent, to $1.3 trillion). A leading driver of the acceleration among public payers, up from 6.5 percent in 2008, is the expected growth in Medicaid enrollment (6.5 percent) and spending (9.9 percent) as a result of rising unemployment related to the recession.

    The relatively low growth of private-payer spending in 2009 was influenced by private insurance enrollment that is expected to have declined 1.2 percent. The decline occurred despite a substantial boost from federal subsidies provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.”

    Sources:

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    Benefits: Employers’ greatest pricing pressure

    November 5, 2010 in Current Events, HC Statistics | No comments

    A survey conducted by Grant Thornton reveals that employee benefits rank at the top of employer cost control concerns.  According to the survey, “A vast majority (84%) cited employee benefits (e.g., health care, pensions) as their greatest pricing pressure — up from 68% six months earlier.”

    In response, about one-third of employers plan to cut employee health benefits.  The good news is that more employers are planning to increase health benefits compared to March 2010.

    Change in Employee Health Benefits Oct 2010 Mar 2010
    Increase 21% 6%
    Same 49% 66%
    Decrease 30% 29%

    Most economists believe that employers view health insurance as a cost just like salary. Thus, the downside of increasing health insurance benefits is that salary increases would not be as high as they would with a smaller increase in employee benefits.

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    Safety Net Patients in California

    October 21, 2010 in CHIP, HC Statistics, Health Insurance, Medicaid | No comments

    The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) reviews how California’s safety net residents receive medical care.  Safety Net patients are considered those who have incomes below 300% of the federal poverty line.  Below is a list of governmental and non-governmental programs which serve California Safety Net residents.

    This graph shows public program eligibility by poverty level for different types of residents.  These eligibility levels are from 2009 and will change once health reform is implemented.  In particular, Medi-Cal will be extended to more individuals.

    One interesting point is that while adults with children are currently eligible for Medi-Cal if their income is below the poverty line, adults without children can only receive subsidized medical services through county programs.

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    Trends in Employer-Provided Benefits

    August 6, 2010 in HC Statistics, Health Insurance | 2 comments

    PricewaterhouseCoopers recently conducted a survey of about 700 companies to determine the latest trends in employer-provided benefits.  The survey, conducted in early 2010, assessed the level of health insurance, retirement, and other benefits provided by firms from over 30 industries.

    Today, I will focus on the results with respect to the health insurance.  Broadly, PPOs are still the most popular plan, but high-deductible plans are gaining ground.  Further, there is a general trend towards increased cost sharing both for in-network  and out of network care.  An increasing number of firms also utilize wellness (76%) and disease management (68%) programs for their employees.

    The table provides a more detailed summary of the trends in employer-provided benefits between 2008 and 2010.

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