Medicaid Spending Expected to Outpace Economic Growth http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Medicaid/11372

By Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: October 17, 2008 Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 -- Medicaid spending will outpace national economic growth by more than 60% over the next 10 years, according to the first fiscal report from the federal-state program since it began 42 years ago. Total Medicaid expenditures will reach $674 billion annually by 2017, representing an annual growth rate of 7.9%, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of HHS, said at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Budget Officers here. In contrast, the U.S. economy is projected to have an annual growth rate of 4.8% over the same time period. Total healthcare costs are expected to increase by 6.7% per year./.../