HCFA Predicts Health Spending To Double by 2007

MANAGED CARE October 1998. ©1998 Stezzi Communications

Washington Initiatives

Managed care has wrung about all of the excess from the health care system that it can — and as a result, health care spending is about to jump dramatically, says the Health Care Financing Administration.

In a study released in the September/October issue of the journal Health Affairs, HCFA actuaries credit the rise of managed care as the biggest influence on the slowdown of expenditure increases. But, they say, with 85 percent of working Americans already enrolled in managed care plans, employers aren't going to be able to force savings the same way they have.

HCFA says health spending will double by 2007, thanks to higher insurance premiums and consumer demands.