Healthcare represents both the largest employment sector in America and a substantial share of consumer spending, making it a critical focus of our inflation research. Our analysis examines how healthcare price trends affect overall inflation measurements while also exploring how healthcare costs influence labor markets through employer-sponsored insurance expenses. By identifying specific drivers of healthcare inflation, we develop targeted policy proposals that can address these pressures without sacrificing healthcare employment. This sector-specific approach exemplifies our broader strategy of addressing inflation through precision interventions rather than broad economic slowdowns.
Healthcare
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10 Posts
Jun 06, 2025
Last month, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Same Care, Lower Cost Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement site-neutral Medicare payments. Due to the breadth of services where payments could be made site-neutral under the Act, it is one of the most ambitious
Jan 13, 2025
As the 119th Congress convenes, the House Budget Committee is considering several policies to cut federal spending by more than $5 trillion. One reported proposal is a potential site-neutral Medicare payment reform that is estimated to save Medicare $146 billion over ten years. The details on how House Republicans plan
If policy is to have a significant impact on medical services inflation, and by extension aggregate inflation, it is not enough to only tackle costs in the public sector. Policy needs to ensure cost control in the private sector as well.
The 1990s saw an extended period of full employment, high growth, and low inflation. Part of this achievement was attributable to healthcare cost control efforts undertaken by both public- and private-sector actors.
As economic risks shift from inflation toward the labor market, the Federal Reserve has begun the process of normalizing interest rates. While inflation is certainly lower than a year ago, that doesn't mean that inflationary risks are dead, either now or in the future. One stark lesson of
With healthcare costs projected to rise over the coming decade, a policy proposal that has been circulating is making Medicare reimbursements site-neutral. In this brief, we estimate the disinflation effects of implementing site-neutral payments for Medicare.
Mar 27, 2023
Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for Medicare Advantage spending and methodological changes for CY 2024. If finalized, the rule would increase overall Medicare Advantage payments by 1.03%, a considerable departure from increases of 8.5%
Dec 09, 2022
As Congress considers a year-end spending bill, it faces a decision that will have a meaningful effect on inflation: whether or not to extend across-the-board Medicare reimbursement rates.
Now is the time for the Biden administration to think hard about how to encourage greater efficiency for the already elevated set of healthcare costs that the government and the private sector finance in this country.
