Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
U.S. Budget Deficit Widens In November
The U.S. budget deficit widened in November due to an uptick in spending that outpaced an increase in revenues, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. ... Most of the spending growth in recent months has been driven by programs that aren鈥檛 appropriated on an annual basis by Congress, such as Medicare and Social Security. (Timiraos, 12/10)
The latest numbers underscore the deepening impact of paying benefits to a growing number of retiring baby boomers. The report said Social Security spending expanded 4 percent, while Medicare spending increased 9 percent. Spending on Medicaid, the government health care program for low-income individuals, rose 12 percent, partly due to an expansion authorized under the Affordable Care Act. (Crutsinger, 12/10)
Meanwhile, the Census Bureau notes that spending on hospitals, doctors and social services has gone up 5.6 percent year over year in the third quarter of 2015; and the Tennessean reports on how businesses are attempting to deal with health costs -
Spending on hospitals, doctors and social services grew 5.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2015, indicating that healthcare expenses are still outpacing the higher growth rate recorded last year. That figure comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's latest Quarterly Services Report and does not include several other components of the healthcare system, such as pharmaceuticals and other medical products. (Herman, 12/10)
It was shaping up to be a bad year for medical claims for Blevins Inc. in June, so the chief financial officer tried to keep it from getting worse. For the first time, Tim Kentner sent letters to employees at home, asking people to switch to generics when they could and urging visits to urgent care clinics instead of emergency rooms, if appropriate. It didn't work. (Fletcher, 12/10)
