Released: February 23, 2007

Health care costs to keep rising

Source: Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle

Several reports released this week put a spotlight on rapidly rising health care costs, suggesting they will keep climbing in the foreseeable future.
That could be a signal that employers and consumers will see increases in health insurance rates, economists warn.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in January, driven in part by the biggest jump in medical costs since August 1991.

Meanwhile, federal forecasters concluded in a separate report released Wednesday that U.S. health spending will nearly double by 2016, consuming 20 cents of every dollar spent.

These reports come as employers, especially larger firms, are experiencing a welcome slowdown in the growth of health insurance premiums.

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