Health Spending Growth Slows

Baltimore

The nation's 2004 health spending increased 7.9 percent — its lowest growth rate in four years — to $1.9 trillion, or $6,280 per person, according to a report issued by CMS' Office of the Actuary. That compares to increases of 8.2 percent in 2003 and 9.1 percent in 2002. But the country's health spending still grew faster than wages and inflation and has reached its highest share yet of the gross domestic product at 16 percent, compared to 13.8 percent in 1992 and 9.1 percent in 1980.

Moreover, U.S. health care costs from 1993 to 2004 have doubled.

Medicare continues to dominate public spending, at $309 billion in 2004, while Medicaid spending hit $291 billion.