Health Spending Growth Data Shows DME at the Bottom of the List

U.S. health care spending by both the public and private sectors
grew at a rate of 6.1 percent to $2.2 trillion in 2007, down from
growth of 6.7 percent in 2006. In fact, based on figures from CMS’
Office of the Actuary published in the journal
Health Affairs, the 2007 growth rate is
the slowest recorded since 1998. On the other hand, health care
spending consumed 16.2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product
in 2007, an all-time high. Hospital spending increased 7.3 percent,
and spending on doctors grew 5.9 percent.

As for DME, a report from VGM CFO/CIO Mike Mallaro points out that with a growth
rate of 0.9 percent, “the data shows that DME expenditures grew at
a lower rate than any other category of health expenditures in
2007. This is the second consecutive year that DME has been the
health care category with lowest growth rate.”