, Columnist
Expensive Hospitals Aren't Any Better
As spending growth in health care continues to decelerate, it's good to know that the trend can continue without lowering the quality of medical treatment.
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The good news about health-care spending continues. In the first nine months of this fiscal year, Medicare spending increased only 1.2 percent in nominal terms, and for 2014, it's now projected to be $1,000 lower per beneficiary than the Congressional Budget Office said it would be as recently as 2010. Even the Medicare trustees are starting to recognize that something big may be happening.
In evaluating the recent deceleration, however, a crucial question remains: Can slower cost growth continue without harming the quality of outcomes?