Atena reports:
“U.S. health care spending in recent years has grown by historically modest rates thanks largely to the effects of the recession, but all that is expected to change by 2014 when major coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) begin. In a study published in the journal Health Affairs, health care spending is projected to grow by 8.3 percent in 2014. Also, expanded Medicaid coverage and robust growth in Medicare enrollment are expected to increase the federal government share of health spending from 27 percent in 2009 to 31 percent by 2020. Health care spending will make up 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product by 2020. According to Bloomberg, the ACA will succeed in helping more Americans get coverage, but it won’t reduce health care spending as written.”