Medicare Spending Increases Due To Prescription Drugs

Medicare spending grew 18.7% to $401.3 billion in 2006, as prescription drug spending shifted to Medicare from Medicaid and private coverage, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported today. That’s the largest annual increase in Medicare spending since 1981 and twice the growth seen in 2005. Total U.S. spending for hospital care grew 7.0% in 2006 to $648.2 billion, down from a 7.3% increase in 2005, as growth in the underlying cost of hospital services slowed to 4.1% from 4.3%, CMS said. Spending for physician and clinical services grew 5.9% in 2006 to $447.6 billion. That’s down from 7.4% in 2005, due in part to a freeze in Medicare payments. The report appears in the January/February issue of Health Affairs.

Disability Due To CHF

Congestive Heart Failure is leading to greater likelihood of disability among older adults. Medical breakthroughs in recent decades have allowed heart attack survivors and other heart-disease patients to live longer. But as their hearts decline into congestive heart failure, an increasing number will experience disability and the need for nursing-home care. A new study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System sheds light on the degree of disability among people with CHF, as well as the implications for the health care system, community care facilities, families and the patients themselves. Click link for full article.

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