Health Care Spending To Double In Next Decade

Advertisement

(UNDATED) - Spending on health care is expected to nearly double per person in the next decade.

Now spending averages out to just over $7,000 dollars a year, but in 10 years it will be over $13,000.

IU Center For Health Policy Director Eric Wright says the biggest reason health care is so expensive is the number of uninsured. Hospitals have to make adjustments to their bottom lines to recoup costs for caring for people without health insurance. He says the rising obesity rate and people who smoke are other factors.

Dr. Wright says there are ways to combat the cost, like paying attention to the kind of care given to people, how they access that care and how to do it all more efficiently. He says states, including Indiana, are coming up with their own plans to deal with rising health care costs, but having 50 health care plans could be confusing.

He adds the health care policy community feels universal health care is the way to properly reform the system.

Print this story