PER PERSON HEALTH CARE SPENDING EXCEEDED $6,700 IN 2022

Between 2018 and 2022, spending increased nearly 19%, average out-of-pocket spending exceeded $860 among people who get insurance through work

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) shows that, even with fluctuations in 2020 and 2021, per person health care spending grew from 2018 to 2022. Over the five years, average prices increased by 14% and utilization went up by about 4%. Data in HCCI's annual Health Care Cost and Utilization Report (HCCUR) illustrate that, although utilization of services went up and down over the course of the five years, average prices trended upward each year.

"Prices, in particular, pose a challenge to affordable and accessible health care," said Katie Martin, President and CEO of HCCI. "This report shows how spending has changed since 2018, and, despite some large impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic along the way, the net effect is that use, prices, and spending were all higher in 2022."

Other key findings of the HCCUR include:

• Out-of-pocket spending per person increased from about $800 in 2018 to more than $860 in 2022, an increase of approximately 8%.
• Per person spending in 2022 was higher than in 2018 across all major service categories: inpatient, outpatient, physician, and prescription drugs.
• Nearly 60% of per person medical spending went to hospitals, not including payments to doctors providing care in the hospital. Hospital facility prices increased 15% from 2018 to 2022.
• Inpatient hospital admissions decreased by 11% from 2018 to 2022, including a 36% decrease in respiratory admissions from 2021 to 2022. The five-year decrease was driven by a dramatic reduction in musculoskeletal inpatient hospital stays.

The HCCUR examines year-over-year and 5-year cumulative trends in health care spending for individuals with employer-sponsored insurance, segmented by health care service category. The findings in HCCUR are powered by HCCI data which holds claims data for more than 50 million commercially insured individuals. All data was weighted to reflect the age, gender and geographic mix of the employer-sponsored insurance population. The full report can be accessed here.

About Health Care Cost Institute

The Health Care Cost Institute is a mission-driven, non-profit at the nexus of data, analytics, and action. HCCI was founded in 2011 to leverage unique, high-quality data and extraordinary expertise in research and policy to give decisionmakers the tools they need to lower health care costs and increase value in the health care system. To learn more about HCCI, visit https://healthcostinstitute.org/.

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SOURCE Health Care Cost Institute