Bending the Health Care Cost Curve: New Era in American Health Care?
Health care spending in 2009 and 2010 grew at the slowest rates in 50 years. This startling news, published in an article by staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Health Affairs, was largely attributed to the shrinking economy.1 Loss of jobs and insurance, slow growth in wages and family incomes, and greater out-of-pocket health care costs have undoubtedly caused uninsured, underinsured, and low-wage workers and their families to forgo care, contributing to the slowdown in health spending. An estimated 9 million people became uninsured when they lost a job with benefits over 2008–10, and they were much more likely than those who did not lose coverage to report delaying needed care.2
Comments