America's health spending in 2014 hits US$3 trillion

Washington

HEALTH spending in the US last year topped US$3 trillion - an average of US$9,500 a person - as five years of exceptionally slow growth gave way to the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid and private insurance coverage, and as prescription drug prices resumed their sharp climbs, the government said on Wednesday.

Health spending grew faster than the economy in 2014, and the federal share of health spending grew even faster, as major provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect.

Total spending on healthcare increased 5.3 per cent last year, the biggest jump since 2007, and accounted for 17.5 per cent of the nation's economic output, up from 17.3 per cent in 2013, the Department of He…