Spending slowdown: If the current slowdown in healthcare spending persists, the government might save roughly $770 billion over the next decade, according to Harvard University Professor David Cutler. He writes in the latest issue of Health Affairs that the slowdown in health spending was caused in part by the recession, and also by slower advances in medical technology and the growth of health plans that shift more costs to consumers.
“If these trends continue during 2013–22, public-sector health care spending will be as much as $770 billion less than predicted. Such lower levels of spending would have an enormous impact on the US economy and on government and household finances,” Cutler wrote.
Read his study here.