Healthcare spending growth reached a seven-year high in February, according to a report from the Altarum Institute's Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
Spending increased year-over-year in all major categories. Here are six key statistics from the report on national health expenditures.
1. In February, health spending increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $3.05 trillion.
2. National health expenditures grew 6.7 percent year-over-year in February.
3. In February 2014, hospital spending accounted for $986 billion (32 percent) of total health spending.
4. Physician and clinical services spending was $607 billion (20 percent of the total) in February.
5. Prescription drug spending was $293 billion (10 percent).
6. The health spending share of gross domestic product reached an all-time high of 17.7 percent in January. However, this is partly due to slow GDP growth rather than high healthcare spending growth.
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