Healthcare Spending Hit $4.5T: What Does The Future Hold?

2022 saw a 4.1% increase in healthcare spending, but what does it mean for the future?

The nation's healthcare expenditures hit $4.5 trillion in 2022, increasing to $13,493 per person, federal actuaries recently reported.

Unfortunately, the future remains to be seen.

"The growth in healthcare spending in 2022 of 4.1% was more consistent with the pre-pandemic average annual growth rate of 4.4% over 2016-19," Micah Hartman, a statistician in the CMS Office of the Actuary and first author of the report, said in a media release.

"It remains to be seen how future healthcare spending trends will materialize, as trends are expected to be driven more by health-specific factors such as medical-specific price inflation, the utilization and intensity of medical care, and the demographic impacts associated with the continuing enrollment of the baby boomers in Medicare," Hartman said.

Below are a few more key takeaways from the report, and you can read John Commins full report here.