“Blame Technology, Not Longer Life Spans, for Health Spending Increases,” by Austin Frakt, New York Times

“The real culprit of increased spending? Technology.  Every year you age, health care technology changes — usually for the better, but always at higher cost. Technology change is responsible for at least one-third and as much as two-thirds of per capita health care spending growth. After accounting for changes in income and health care coverage, aging alone can explain only, at most, a few percentage points of spending growth — a conclusion reached by several studies.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
Thanks to Center Premium Elite member Honey Leveen for drawing our attention to this article and for her comment about it:  “It looks like the new research showing radically higher healthcare costs associated with technology staving off chronic illness symptoms and pushing disability closer to death could correlate with the delayed, compressed morbidity LTCi actuaries are seeing.” 

Blame Technology, Not Longer Life Spans, for Health Spending Increases

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