CMS: Medical innovation, aging population to drive health cost increases

New analysis from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicts that health-care spending in the U.S. will reach $4.6 trillion in 2020, accounting for about 20 percent of the economy (Source: “Care of sickest drives up health tab, Medicare says,” Columbus Dispatch, July 29, 2011).

That total spending will average out to $13,710 for every man, woman and child, according to analysis from the CMS Office of the Actuary. By comparison, this year total health-care spending is projected to be $2.7 trillion, or about $8,650 per capital.

Although the federal ACA is expected to enable 30 million more Americans to obtain health coverage, the analysis found that the law would be only a modest contributor to the rising costs. Instead, the report concluded that the escalating costs were related to the high cost of medical innovations and an aging population that likely will consume more medical care.