Health care inflation was 8.2% in 2004 for privately insured Americans. This was 2.6% higher than overall economic growth, and almost twice as high as the general rate of medical inflation (4.4% in February) . The largest driver of health inflation was outpatient hospital, which increased 11.2%, while drug cost inflation moderated somewhat, coming in at 7.2% for the year.
The Center for the Study of Health System Change authored the report that is the source of these data, noting:
“Trends in four of the five spending categories
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