S&P: Healthcare costs continue to rise, but at a slower pace
The average per capita cost of healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare rose 7.08 percent over the past 12 months, according to data released this week by Standard & Poor's.
The S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicates this growth was nonetheless a slight deceleration from the 7.31 percent increase reported for the 12 months ending in August 2010.
David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said claim costs associated with hospital and professional services for patients covered under commercial health plans rose 8.54 percent over the last year, as measured by the S&P Healthcare Economic Commercial Index.
Medicare claim costs for services rendered by hospitals and physicians rose by a more modest 4.68 percent, as depicted by the S&P Healthcare Economic Medicare Index. The two indices also saw some growth deceleration versus their August reports of +8.64 percent and +5.07 percent, respectively.
"While annual expenditures for Medicare and commercial insurance programs continue to rise faster than either inflation or GDP growth, the pace has slowed slightly in the last seven months," said Blitzer.
The S&P Healthcare Economic Indices estimate the per capita change in revenues accrued each month by hospital and professional services facilities for services provided to patients covered under traditional Medicare and commercial health insurance programs in the United States.
The annual growth rates are determined by calculating a percent change of the 12-month moving averages of the monthly index levels versus the same month of the prior year.
"Comparing the 12 months to September with the 12 months to last February, Medicare and the Hospital Medicare indices showed the most moderation in costs while the Hospital Commercial Index saw a slight increase in the growth of expenditures," Blitzer said. "While encouraging, these trends can shift quickly as shown by patterns over recent years. None of these data reflect the healthcare legislation enacted earlier this year."
