http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2008/01/17/health-spending-a-dissenting-view-us-health-spending-growth-will-continue-to-moderate/ The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:04:42 -0500 hourly 1 http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2008/01/17/health-spending-a-dissenting-view-us-health-spending-growth-will-continue-to-moderate/comment-page-1/#comment-13995 Health Care BS - WILL HEALTH CARE SPENDING REMAIN FLAT? Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:24:17 +0000 http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2008/01/17/health-spending-a-dissenting-view-us-health-spending-growth-will-continue-to-moderate/#comment-13995 [...] It is this reluctance to search for a black cloud for every silver lining that informs Goldsmith’s latest post at the Health Affairs blog. Countering the general pessimism that greeted the recent CMS report on health spending, he predicts “a more durable downtrend in spending growth”: How long it will last is anyone’s guess, but another year or two of moderate health spending growth is entirely possible, as well as the prospect of at least a fourth year of flat gross domestic product (GDP) percentage (at 16 percent). [...] [...] It is this reluctance to search for a black cloud for every silver lining that informs Goldsmith’s latest post at the Health Affairs blog. Countering the general pessimism that greeted the recent CMS report on health spending, he predicts “a more durable downtrend in spending growth”: How long it will last is anyone’s guess, but another year or two of moderate health spending growth is entirely possible, as well as the prospect of at least a fourth year of flat gross domestic product (GDP) percentage (at 16 percent). [...]

]]> http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2008/01/17/health-spending-a-dissenting-view-us-health-spending-growth-will-continue-to-moderate/comment-page-1/#comment-13990 RobertBurney Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:43:42 +0000 http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2008/01/17/health-spending-a-dissenting-view-us-health-spending-growth-will-continue-to-moderate/#comment-13990 One semantic quibble: It was healthcare expenditures that soared in the 1990s, not healthcare costs. The cost of an aspirin or an appendectomy may have risen then also, but that was not the subject of this essay. This is an important point, because the costs of individual healthcare services have been totally ignored amid concerns over healthcare expenditures. A missed opportunity. One semantic quibble: It was healthcare expenditures that soared in the 1990s, not healthcare costs. The cost of an aspirin or an appendectomy may have risen then also, but that was not the subject of this essay.
This is an important point, because the costs of individual healthcare services have been totally ignored amid concerns over healthcare expenditures. A missed opportunity.

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