High Healthcare Prices Drain State and Federal Budgets
For every $1 spent on healthcare, $0.39 is paid by Medicaid or Medicare.
State employee health plan premiums typically rise 3.7% annually on average, but jumped just over 6% from 2023 to 2024.
A 1% increase in health care prices brings federal income tax receipts down by 0.4%.
Sources
National Health Expenditure Data
Survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. National Health Expenditure Accounts are comprised of the following:
Historical and Project Health Expenditures
Personal Health Care Spending by Age and Gender
Personal health care (PHC) expenditures by State of Provider
Personal health care (PHC) expenditures by State of Residence
PEBA 50 State Survey
The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) solicits and gathers information from across the nation regarding the premiums that public employers and employees are paying for health insurance. For purposes of our analysis, the 50 states are divided into four geographical regions: the West, Midwest, Northeast and South
Who Pays for Rising Health Care Prices? Evidence from Hospital Mergers
The study’s authors analyze the economic consequences of rising health care prices in the US. Using exposure to price increases caused by horizontal hospital mergers as an instrument, they show that rising prices raise the cost of labor by increasing employer-sponsored health insurance premiums.