December 16, 2021
Payers
  • The CMS Office of the Actuary released a report stating that the U.S. spent $4.1 trillion on health care in 2020. The report found that S. health care spending increased 9.7 percent in 2020 – a rate that is significantly higher than the roughly 5 percent growth in health spending in recent years. Health spending rose to 19.7 percent of gross domestic product, almost one-fifth of the economy, up from 17.6 percent in 2019. The report attributes the increase to massive government spending on health care in response to COVID-19, including the $122 billion Congress allocated for the Provider Relief Fund and an additional 3.7 million people enrolling in Medicaid. (Press release here; Articles here, here, here, and here)