Healthcare price growth hits 6-year high
HealthExec
April, 13, 2018
Prices across the healthcare sector rose 2.2 percent year-over-year in March 2018, the highest annual growth rate recorded by Altarum since January 2012, with the report warning rapid price growth is likely to continue.
In Alatraum’s latest report, the price growth was again driven by growth in hospital prices. Year-over-year growth was 3.7 percent, down slightly from February’s 3.8 percent, which had marked the highest growth rate since November 2009. Bucking the norms in price growth has been Medicare hospital prices outpacing the private sector (4.6 percent versus 3.7 percent year-over-year for March 2018) as Medicare hospital growth hit a nine-year high.
“As we note each month, health care inflation is low stage of the economic recovery, but is a sea change in the offing whereby the HCPI (healthcare price index) head towards 3 percent?” the March 2018 price growth report said.