The business of U.S. Healthcare- Spending has surged by 7.5% to $4.8 trillion.

Healthcare in the U.S. is more than just a service. It is a powerhouse that significantly contributes to our economy. With a projected share of nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy by 2032, it's a business sector that demands our utmost attention and scrutiny.?

Our model intricately weaves doctors and patients into a complex system in the United States. Care and the finances that pay for them are intertwined between the government, private employers, citizens, health providers, health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers.

All businesses, even healthcare-related, need to deliver ROI and value.?

ROI is quite definable for healthcare. ROI is the production of value as compared to its economic cost. Value is the patient health outcome achieved per healthcare dollar spent.?

More value is achieved when you get the following:

1. improved patient engagement,?
2. improved patient experience and patient outcome, and
3. reduced aggregate cost of care

Let us go into the wayback machine and look at this 2008 report from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation publication, High and Rising Health Care Costs: Demystifying U.S. Health Care Spending. Let's also look back at the CBO spending data from 2007. In both cases, you can see that the healthcare system as we know it today will implode unless the business model is changed and cost controls are implemented. If we do not reign in cost, we will bankrupt the system, given its current trajectory.?

So, back to the future. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary, a highly reliable source for healthcare expenditure data, has just released a report projecting a staggering rise in national health expenditures to $7.7 trillion. This figure underscores the immense financial burden of our healthcare system.

CMS projects a significant increase in healthcare spending over the next decade. A recent report predicts an average annual growth of 5.6%, outpacing historical trends. This alarming trend means healthcare will consume a more significant portion of the national economy, reaching an estimated 19.7% of GDP by 2032.

The report also provides preliminary estimates for 2023. Healthcare spending is estimated to have surged by a significant 7.5% to $4.8 trillion, representing 17.6% of GDP. This substantial increase outpaced the overall economic growth rate of 6.1% for the year. For comparison, healthcare spending grew slower in recent years: 4.1% in 2022, 2.7% in 2021, and 10.3% in 2020 (the year the COVID-19 pandemic began).

The final figures for 2023 will be published later this year.

The cost of healthcare should be a primary concern for all of us. While healthcare Reform provides access to more consumers, it does not address the underlying problems of escalating costs, and as we just heard, costs are most certainly rising.?

So, to paraphrase my favorite book (And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.)

And now these three remain: experience, health, and costs. But the greatest of these is COST.

To your health,?

Kevin Riley