This past October, healthcare prices were only 0.9 percent higher compared with October 2012, the lowest growth rate recorded since 1960, according to a report from the Altarum Institute's Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
The 12-month moving average of the healthcare price growth rate hit a new low at 1.3 percent. Hospital prices showed a 1.2 percent year-over-year increase in October, the lowest rate recorded since November 1998, according to the report.
Meanwhile, healthcare spending grew 4.1 percent in October 2013 compared with the same period last year, increasing to a seasonally adjusted rate of $2.95 trillion, marginally higher than its value of $2.94 trillion in September. Hospital spending was $939 billion and represented 32 percent of total health spending in October.
More Articles on Healthcare Spending and Prices:
Study: Lower-Price Hospitals Trigger Price Reductions at Other Hospitals
New York Times Article Puts Hospital Prices Back in Spotlight
AHA Takes Exception to New York Times Article on Hospital Prices