CMS: National health spending up 4.1% in 2022  

U.S. health care spending increased 4.1% in 2022, far slower than gross domestic product due to slower spending for hospital and clinical services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported Dec. 13 in Health Affairs. Spending grew 2.2% for hospital care, 2.7% for physician and clinical services and 8.4% for retail prescription drugs. Medicaid spending grew 9.6% due to growth in spending for non-hospital services, while growth in Medicare and private insurance spending slowed to 5.9% and out-of-pocket spending slowed to 6.6%. The number of uninsured individuals declined for the third consecutive year as the insured share of the population increased to a record 92%; however, eligibility changes that occurred in 2023 due to the unwinding of the public health emergency are not accounted for in this analysis.  

“Health care expenditures since 2020 have reflected volatile patterns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal government’s response to the public health emergency,” said lead author Micah Hartman, a statistician in the CMS Office of the Actuary. “The growth in health care spending in 2022 of 4.1% was more consistent with the prepandemic average annual growth rate of 4.4% over 2016-19.”