Instead of growing and growing, as it always had, spending per Medicare beneficiary has nearly leveled off over more than a decade.

For decades, runaway Medicare spending was the story of the federal budget.

Now, flat Medicare spending might be a bigger one.

Something strange has been happening in this giant federal program. Instead of growing and growing, as it always had before, spending per Medicare beneficiary has nearly leveled off over more than a decade.

The trend can be a little hard to see because, as baby boomers have aged, the number of people using Medicare has grown. But it has had enormous consequences for federal spending. Budget news often sounds apocalyptic, but the Medicare trend has been unexpectedly good for federal spending, saving taxpayers a huge amount relative to projections.

…

The reason for the per-person slowdown is a bit of a mystery. Scholars have been arguing about it for years, but no one seems sure enough to confidently predict whether it is likely to stick around for much longer.

  • Sippy Cup
    89•2 years ago

    Could it have something to do with hundreds of thousands of the sickest boomers dying suddenly a few years ago?

      • @mustardman@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        1•2 years ago

        Most (all?) insurance plans that charge copays for medications will give heart-related medications for free because of the cost when things like high-blood pressure our not treated.

        This is both great and sad news if true. Great that it’s made a big difference in the quality of later life and sad that it’s largely preventable and yet nothing was done, and that there is still so much to improve with our health care system.

    • SaltySalamander
      19•2 years ago

      Considering that this is a trend that started a decade ago, probably not nearly as much as you seem to think.

    • hypelightfly
      10•2 years ago

      Looking at the graph, no.

      The change appears to start roughly in 2010. It could possibly be ACA related. During the many attempts to repeat it the CBO estimated doing so would drastically increase medicare spending.

    • Alto
      6•2 years ago

      Considering the change in trend started a decade before that

    • partial_accumen
      5•2 years ago

      Future right-wing headline: “COVID vaccinated retirees cost Medicare more money”

  • @OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
    7•2 years ago

    The given explanation seems to be that existing methods and medications got cheaper but…wouldn’t that mean all medical insurance would get cheaper?