Question

According to the data collected by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, health spending in the United States as a percentage of GDP has risen from 5% in 1960 to 18% in 2015. Which of the following are the forces that are responsible for this upward trend in health spending? There may be multiple answers. Check all that apply.

a) As incomes continue to rise, people tend to spend a higher fraction of their budget on healthcare.

b) Productivity in the healthcare sector rose with the rest of the economy, causing a steep increase in the wages of healthcare providers.

c) As an aging population continues to grow older, the demand for healthcare rises.

d) More young patients with relatively low incomes can afford treatments, which have been made less costly by the advance in medical technology.

e) Productivity in the healthcare sector remained relatively low compared to the rest of the economy, whereas wages of healthcare providers have been rising along with the rest of the labor force.

(I promise I'll rate your answer)

Answer 1

Correct options are A), C) and E)

Basically baby boom generation is getting retired since a decade and this is adding to the group of elderlies who regularly need medical care. Secondly the productivity in healthcare has been quite low since past few years and is unlikely to be increasing in near future. Medical technology is highly expensive and this has raised the medical treatment cost exorbitantly. The nations spends more than 15% of its GNP on health with per head expenditure of more than $7000. Hence as income is increasing spending on health is also increasing.