Patients’ Out-Of-Pocket Health Spending Spiked 10% in 2021: CMS
This level of growth rate, Axios reports, hasn't been seen since 1985 and was driven partly by demand for dental services, eyeglasses, and medical supplies. Modern Healthcare reports total U.S. health care spending hit $4.3 trillion in 2021, up just 2.7% from the year before.
Axios:
Patients' Health Care Spending Spiked In 2021
Americans' out-of-pocket health spending rose 10.4% in 2021, a growth rate not seen since 1985 that was driven in part by demand for dental services, eyeglasses and medical supplies, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' annual National Health Expenditures report. (Owens, 12/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Spending Hit $4.3T In 2021 But Growth Slowed
U.S. healthcare spending totaled $4.3 trillion in 2021, an increase of just 2.7% from a year earlier as COVID-19 relief funding waned, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said Wednesday. Healthcare spending jumped 10.3% in 2020—the largest growth rate since 1984—when the federal government distributed $193.1 billion designed to offset providers’ losses related to the pandemic. (Kacik, 12/14)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Moody's: More Healthcare Organizations At Risk Of Credit Downgrades
Twenty-five North American entities across the hospital, pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare services sectors have been downgraded this year to B3- or lower, according to Moody’s Investor Services. A report from Moody’s called it “a material deterioration in the sector’s credit quality.” Besides economic factors, legislation like the No Surprises Act and opioids-related litigation are also creating more risk. (Hudson, 12/14)
Stat:
Health Companies Are Hiring Their First Chief Health Equity Officers
A string of high-profile health companies like Teladoc and CVSHealth have hired their first chief health equity officers this year as the industry grapples with troubling health disparities. But the people in these prominent positions — and the ones hiring them — say they’re still defining the role, and in some cases, fighting for buy-in and resources from others in their organizations. (Ravindranath, 12/15)
Modern Healthcare:
SCAN Group, CareOregon Plan Merger Into HealthRight Group
Nonprofit health insurers SCAN Group and CareOregon plan to merge and create a $6.8 billion company focused on government health programs, the companies announced Wednesday. (Tepper, 12/14)
The New York Times:
How A Sprawling Hospital Chain Ignited Its Own Staffing Crisis
At a hospital in a Chicago suburb last winter, there were so few nurses that psychiatric patients with Covid were left waiting a full day for beds, and a single aide was on hand to assist with 32 infected patients. Nurses were so distraught about the inadequate staffing that they banded together to file formal complaints every day for more than a month. About 300 miles away, at a hospital outside Flint, Mich., similar scenes were unfolding. Chronic understaffing meant that patients languished in dried feces, while robots replaced nursing assistants who would normally sit with mentally impaired patients. (Robbins, Thomas and Silver-Greenberg, 12/15)
CNBC:
Here's How Health Insurance Is Helping To Cool Inflation
In an environment of high inflation, health insurance costs are doing the opposite: They’ve begun to deflate, and are poised to continue dropping each month until fall 2023, economists predict. Health insurance prices fell by 4% in October and 4.3% in November, according to the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation. (Iacurci, 12/14)
KHN:
Squeezed By Temp Nurse Costs, Hospital Systems Create Their Own Staffing Agencies
Like many nurses these days, Alex Scala got a big pay hike when she switched jobs recently. Scala also received a welcome mix of assignments when she joined Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network. She signed on with a newly created team that works shifts in various units within the system’s 14 hospitals. (Miller, 12/15)
Also —
The Washington Post:
For New NCI Director, Work Turns Personal: She Is Diagnosed With Cancer
Last summer, when Boston cancer surgeon Monica M. Bertagnolli heard she might be selected to lead the National Cancer Institute, she asked a friend whether she would be able to do the job. It was a disarming display of humility from an accomplished professional who has removed gastrointestinal tumors as big as pumpkins and herded not only Black Angus cattle on a Wyoming ranch but also thousands of strong-minded oncologists conducting clinical trials. Bertagnolli said her friend gave her a vote of confidence, adding, “You are kind of annoying — you never take no for an answer.” (McGinley, 12/14)
