2017 National Health Expenditures Highlights

CMS released the 2017 National Health Expenditures, and overall health spending saw growth, however, less than 2016. National health spending increased by 3.9% reaching $3.5 trillion, or $10,739 per person and accounted for 17.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Below are some of the highlights from the report:

Health Spending by Type of Service or Product:

Hospital Care– which totals 33% of health spending, increased 4.6 % to $1.1 trillion in 2017. This was slower than the 5.6 percent growth in 2016, which was a result of a decline in the use and intensity of services. Hospital care expenditures slowed among the major payers—private health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Physician and Clinical Services-which totals 20% increased 4.2 % to $694.3 billion in 2017. Although both service areas have sluggish growth, clinical services continued to outpace the growth in physician services in 2017.
Retail Prescription Drugs- which is 10% increased .4% to $333.4 billion; however, the growth was the lowest since 2012. The key drivers for the lack of growth included a shift to lower-cost generic drugs and slower growth in the sales volume of some high-cost drugs.
Other Health, Residential, and Personal Care Services– which totals 5%, grew 5.6 % in 2017 to $183.1 billion after increasing 5.3% in 2016. The increase was driven by growth in residential mental health and substance abuse facilities and ambulance services.
Nursing Care Facilities and Continuing Care Retirement Communities– which is 5%, grew only 2% to $166.3 billion compared to 3.1% growth in 2016. The slower growth in 2017 is attributed to slower spending growth in both out-of-pocket and private health insurance spending.
Dental Services –which is 4%, increased by 3.2% in 2017 to $129.1 billion, which was down from 5.2 percent growth in 2016.
Home Health Care – which totals 3%, increased 4.3 percent in 2017, the same rate as 2016, to $97.0 billion. Slower growth in Medicaid spending and private health insurance spending was offset by faster Medicare spending and out of pocket spending.
Other Professional Services- which is 3%, reached $96.6 billion in 2017 and increased 4.6 percent, a slower rate of growth compared to the increase of 5.1 percent in 2016. This category includes establishments of independent health practitioners (except physicians and dentists) that primarily provide services such as physical therapy, optometry, podiatry, or chiropractic medicine.
Other Non-durable Medical Products- which is 2%, includes nondurable medical products such as over-the-counter medicines, medical instruments, and surgical dressings, grew 2.2 percent (slower than the rate of growth in 2016 of 4.1 percent) to $64.1 billion in 2017.
Durable Medical Equipment-which totals 2%, includes items such as contact lenses, eyeglasses, and hearing aids, reached $54.4 billion in 2017 and increased 6.8 percent, which was an increase from 4.9 percent growth in 2016. The growth was driven by an acceleration in Medicare spending as well as continued growth in private health insurance and out of pocket spending.