Altarum: Drugs leading health care price growth

Prescription drug prices were 5.3% higher in May than a year ago, by far the highest growth rate for any health care category, according to the latest Economic Indicators from Altarum Institute's Center for Sustainable Health Spending. Prices for physician and clinical services were 1.1% lower than a year ago, reflecting the end of the Affordable Care Act’s higher payments to primary care doctors under Medicaid, while the price change for hospital care was “a still very low 0.7%,” the center said. Health spending growth also moderated for the second straight month, falling to 5.9% year over year. Hospitals added nearly 12,000 jobs per month in the first half of 2015, up from 6,000 per month in the last half of 2014 and 3,500 per month in all of 2014.