U.S. healthcare costs increase
S&P Indices announced Thursday the results of its S&P Economic Healthcare Indices for the year ending December 2011, finding that healthcare costs as measured by annual rates of change went up across the board in the last month of the year.
The S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicates that the average per capita cost of healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 5.28 percent over the 12 months ending December 2011. This was an increase from the +4.85 percent annual growth rate posted for November 2011.
As measured by the S&P Healthcare Economic Commercial Index, healthcare costs covered by commercial insurance plans increased by 7.11 percent over the year ending December 2011, moving up from the +6.63 percent reported for November.
Growth rates in Medicare claim costs rose by 2.51 percent, as measured by the S&P Healthcare Economic Medicare Index, up from the 2.15 percent reported for November. The broad Hospital and Professional Services Indices annual growth rates also posted increases from their November 2011 rates; they increased 4.99 percent and 5.34 percent, respectively, from their December 2010 levels. These are above the +4.69 percent and +4.76 percent respective annual rates posted in November 2011.
"After November's deceleration, healthcare costs annual growth rates bounced back in December," said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, in a press release. "Since the end of the summer we have generally seen increasing annual growth rates, particularly with healthcare costs covered by commercial plans. Last month's data, which was through November 2011, showed a modest deceleration; however, December's data has returned to the accelerated pace and this time it affected all types of healthcare costs."
"Looking back over the past three years, while there were differences across types of coverage, we generally witnessed the annual rates of change in healthcare costs accelerating from the beginning of 2009 and peaking around May of 2010," added Blitzer. "For the next year or so, through the first half of 2011 the trends were more towards deceleration, with annual growth rates generally reaching their recent lows in the summer of 2011. Since then, growth rates started to once again accelerate, most notably for hospital costs and those covered by commercial insurance plans."
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 U.S. 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.
[See also: S&P: Healthcare costs continue to rise, but at a slower pace]
