Health care spending had been a rising share of US GDP for decades, but since about 2010, the rate of increase seemed to level out. David M. Cutler and Lev Klarnet address “Has the United States bent the health care cost curve?” (Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring 2026, readable overview of paper at link, including a follow-up link to the paper itself).
Here’s an image to summarize the ...
The slowdown in health care spending growth in the United States is a complex issue with several contributing factors. The paper by Cutler and Klarnet suggests that technological innovation, changes in demand, long-run supply elasticities, a healthier population, and reduced price growth have all played a role in bending the cost curve. However, these trends are not enough to prevent an increase in health care spending as the population ages and Medicare enrollment grows. It is worth noting that...