U.S. researchers say they are cautiously optimistic the slowdown in healthcare spending is here to stay. Professor Michael Chernew, medical student Alexander Ryu, lecturer Teresa B. Gibson and research associate M. Richard McKellar, all of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, say national health expenditures grew exceptionally slowly during and immediately after the recent recession. During 2009-11, per-capita national health spending grew about 3 percent annually, compared with an average of 5.9 percent annually during the previous 10 years. Policy experts disagreed whether the slower health spending growth was temporary due to the recession or represented a long-term shift.
