Why Investing in Your Health makes Perfect Sense
March 6th, 2009The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, released a report on the state of the US health care system. The current state of health care and, even more importantly the forecasts, make it abundantly clear that individuals should do everything possible to maintain good health. Some of the more interesting data from the CMS report are summarized below.
- The share of the economy devoted to health spending will increase by a percentage point from 2008. This would represent the biggest one-year increase ever recorded – tracking began in 1960
- Overall U.S. health spending in 2009 will hit $2.5 trillion, continuing a trend in recent decades that has seen healthcare encompass an ever-larger proportion of the economy.
- It is projected that the health share of the economy will increase steadily through 2018. By 2018 health spending will be $4.4 trillion and make up 20.3 percent of the overall economy (it is currently $2.5 trillion and consumes 17.6 percent of the economy)
- Spending for private health insurance is slowing as more people lose employer-provided coverage. However private health spending growth is expected to jump from 4.2 percent in 2010 to 6.1 percent by 2018
- Growth in public health spending this year is projected to hit 7.4 percent, amounting to $1.2 trillion. This is largely because Medicaid assistance for the poor is ballooning. Public health spending will surge as the baby boom generation begins entering the Medicare health insurance program for people over 65
The CMS forecast reflect the stark reality of the US health system. Eng3 is doing everything we can to help people avoid the need to rely on it. Healthy aging is certainly the most cost effective way to go. Fortunately a growing number of people are investing in their health and taking preventative measures.