Health spending grew in 2008 at the slowest pace in 48 years as the recession held back the growth of health costs, the federal government reported. Health spending topped $2.3 trillion in 2008, up 4.4% from the previous year. But the rate of growth in 2008 was down from 6% in 2007 and an average increase of 7% a year in the decade from 1998 to 2008. Healthcare accounted for 16.2% of the gross domestic product in 2008, up from 15.9% in 2007, according to the report by the Department of Health and Human Services.
