US healthcare spending reached $3.3 trillion in 2016, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Center on Medicare and Medicaid services. On a per capita bases, spending on healthcare increased by $354, reaching $10,348 a year per person. Healthcare spending now accounts for 17.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
According to the journal Health Affairs, this represents a slowing in the rate of growth of healthcare spending, even as it continues to rise.
“Health spending growth decelerated in 2016 following faster growth in 2014 and 2015 associated with coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and strong retail prescription drug spending growth,” Health Affairs said.
