Spending on health care in the United States totaled $3 trillion in 2014, fueled by expanded coverage under Obamacare and by a 12.2 percent surge in prescription drug spending. The increase came at a 5.3 percent clip after a five-year average of 3.7 percent annual increases.
The figures were released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a wing of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Explained CMS economist Anne B. Martin: “Two main factors were responsible for health spending growth in 2014: coverage expansion associated with the Affordable Care Act and faster growth in prescription drug spending.”
Medicaid rolls themselves expanded by 7.7 million people in 2014, as 25 states took advantage of federal subsidies to expand enrollment in the program.
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