US health spending grew more slowly in 2005, but it's not all good news

Spending on health care in the United States grew more slowly in 2005 than in any year since 1999, but it still grew at twice the rate of inflation and faster than the growth in wages⇓.

In their annual report on healthcare spending, officials from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported in the journal Health Affairs (2007;26:142-53) that, for the third year in a row, healthcare spending grew at a slower rate than in the previous year. In 2005 it grew by 7%, reaching nearly $2000bn (£1000bn; €1500bn).

The authors said it wasn't clear …