Health spending growth at a historic low in 2008

In 2008, U.S. health care spending growth slowed to 4.4 percent--the slowest rate of growth over the past forty-eight years. The deceleration was broadly based for nearly all payers and health care goods and services, as growth in both price and nonprice factors slowed amid the recession. Despite the slowdown, national health spending reached $2.3 trillion, or $7,681 per person, and the health care portion of gross domestic product (GDP) grew from 15.9 percent in 2007 to 16.2 percent in 2008. These developments reflect the general pattern that larger increases in the health spending share of GDP generally occur during or just after periods of economic recession. Despite the overall slowdown in national health spending growth, increases in this spending continue to outpace growth in the resources available to pay for it.