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The national medical bill may be back to growing faster than gross domestic product. After five years of historically slow growth, new data show U.S. health-care spending accelerated significantly in 2014. The analysis, from the Altarum Institute research group and based on preliminary government data, shows health spending increasing by 5 percent last year, compared to 3.6 percent in 2013. If confirmed by the final tally, health-care spending during 2014 would mark the biggest jump since before the recession. (Tozzi, 2/18)

The prices that health insurers paid to acute-care hospitals declined in January compared with the same month a year ago, a first since federal officials began to collect such data. Public sector and private payer efforts to push down costs could explain the drop, experts said. (Evans, 2/18)

At a time of rising concern over the cost of medicines, a government-funded study has found that three drugs, ranging in price from $50 to $1,950 a dose, are equally effective in treating many cases of a common form of vision loss caused by diabetes. But the most expensive drug – Eylea, sold by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals – was more effective for patients who had poorer vision before starting treatment. (Pollack, 2/18)