New From The GAO: Why Addressing Health Care Spending Matters
Rising health care costs not only affect individuals, families and businesses, they also affect the nation’s financial stability.
That’s according to a recent blog post published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Health care costs are a key driver of our national debt. Federal health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, support 147 million people and accounted for about 31% of the nation’s total spending in fiscal year 2024.
As the population ages and health care costs continue to rise, the GAO estimates spending on federal health care programs will reach 8.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 30 years, up from 5.8% in fiscal 2023.
Despite the growth, the GAO believes Americans’ life expectancy and other health performance measures will continue to lag many other countries.
So, what should the nation do?
The GAO, in consultation with health care experts at a health care forum, sets five key steps to lowering costs and improving health outcomes:
- Support a high-functioning primary health care system. That includes yearly check-ups and preventive care.
- Expand the health care workforce. The nation needs more doctors, nurses and caregivers, particularly for long-term care.
- Reform health care pricing. Yes, that means addressing the costs of prescription drugs and expensive tests, such as MRIs and CT scans.
- Reform Medicare physician payments. Look at ways in which the current system incentivizes the overuse of some services and underuse of others.
- Mitigate anticompetitive incentives and practices. As hospitals and health systems become more consolidated, less competition leads to higher costs.
Check out the full report from the expert forum here. Share your thoughts and stories with us here.