HCCI’s 2019 HCCUR was featured in a Health Affairs article on increases in health care spending.
From the article: “Price increases in most years have been highest in the commercial market. While there is some variation across states, a national analysis of commercial claim data by the Health Care Cost Institute found that from 2015 to 2019, approximately two-thirds of the increase in spending growth was due to increases in service prices.”
Health Affairs: What Is Driving Health Care Spending Upward In States With Cost Growth Targets?
While states are at varying points in the implementation of these analytic activities, there is now enough publicly reported data to identify systemic cost drivers across four of the six states. Overall cost growth in these states is driven largely by growth in the commercial market, as opposed to Medicare and Medicaid. Across both public and private markets, hospital and pharmacy care are areas of highest growth. Price appears to be the primary cost driver in the commercial market.