US healthcare spending neared $5 trillion in 2023, government report says
Source: Reuters
December 18, 2024 5:08 PM EST Updated 10 hours ago
NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. healthcare spending rose by 7.5% to $4.9 trillion in 2023, driven by increased use of medical services as enrollment climbed for private health plans, particularly those under the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a report on Wednesday.
The agency, which oversees Medicare plans for people aged 65 and older or with disabilities, said healthcare spending outpaced U.S. economic growth. It rose by an inflation-adjusted 4.4% compared with gross domestic product growth of 2.9% in 2023, the report said. Spending on retail prescription drugs had the biggest increase, rising 11.4% to $449.7 billion after a 7.8% rise in 2022, largely due to the use of weight-loss and diabetes drugs, a CMS official said during a press briefing.
Within the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the amount spent on diabetes medicines like the popular newer GLP-1 medicines such as Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) Ozempic and Wegovy that are also used for weight loss, increased 35%, the official said. "That significantly contributed to Medicare prescription drug spending growth of 12.2%," the official added.
Healthcare represented 17.6% of the U.S. economy in 2023, slightly up from 17.4% in 2022. That portion is slightly lower than at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-healthcare-spending-rose-75-2023-government-report-says-2024-12-18/
Link to CMS National Health Expenditure FACT SHEET - NHE Fact Sheet
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