WASHINGTON—U.S. health care spending last year grew at the fastest pace since President Barack Obama took office, driven by expanded coverage under his namesake law and by zooming prescription drug costs, the government said Wednesday.
After five years of historically low growth, national health expenditures increased by 5.3 percent in 2014, reaching $3 trillion, or $9,523 for every man, woman and child. That followed a 2.9 percent increase for 2013. Such seemingly small percentage shifts resonate when the total is $3 trillion.
The report by nonpartisan experts at the Department of Health and Human Services is an annual snapshot of the nation’s health care system, a major slice of the economy. Rising spending eventually has consequences for taxpayers, employers and individuals.
For the Obama administration, it may signal the end of an unusually long lull in health care inflation that yielded political dividends. While the president’s health care law has increased coverage, the cost problem doesn’t appear solved. Even now, the Republican-led Congress is preparing to send a repeal bill to his desk.
