Posted on 04/30/2014 8:58:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Spending on health care grew an astounding 9.9% in the Bureau of Economic Analysis' advance estimate of first-quarter GDP.
It's the biggest percent change in health-care spending since 1980, when health-care spending jumped 10% in the third quarter. Analysts said it's primarily due to a consumption boost from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Adjusted for inflation, America is spending more on health care than ever before.
Personal consumption grew by 3.0%, about half of which was due to the growth in health-care spending, said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"If health-care spending had been unchanged, the headline GDP growth number would have been -1.0%," Shepherdson said.
A BEA representative said the uptick "reflects additional spending associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act."
The first-quarter advance estimate reflects spending from January through March, the first three months when millions of people who gained insurance by signing up on exchanges established by the law or by qualifying for Medicaid coverage under the program's expansion.
Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and now a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, speculated that the growth was more likely associated with the Medicaid expansion at this point.
Sign-ups through the exchanges exploded in March, the last month of the first open enrollment period. Of the more than 8 million people who eventually enrolled in insurance plans, nearly half signed up in March or in a special two-week extended period in April. This means the uptick in health-care spending could be even bigger next quarter.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Ain’t that great. The government health insurance extortion racket raised GDP.
Increased pending on health care administration is not an increase in actual health care delivered.
This is a misreading of what is happening.
Americans now have to PAY MORE for less.
Insurance has skyrocketed, BUT there are fewer docs
available.
Where does THAT show up in this nonsense.
Increased coefficient of bureaucratic drag = Lower standard of living.
Winning!
Increased spending on care? Or increased cost of care?
Article does not make this clear.
So it must be good for the economy, just like EBT cards...right?
The government essentially confiscates larger sums from us for less health care and calls that an increase in the GDP. Orwellian NewSpeak at it’s finest.
As Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge observes,
“And of course, for all those who correctly point out that mandatory spending on healthcare, also known as mal-investment, took away from spending on every other discretionary item possible, well... you are right.”
A BEA representative said the uptick “reflects additional spending associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”
Implementation.. The millions spent on setting up and advertising the exchanges
So government increased demand and now the lakes of economics will be repealed and increased demand will lower prices. Lol.
These “increases” were a tax, not consumption. Taxes are not included in GDP. More lies from the white hut
Personal consumption grew by 3.0%, about half of which was due to the growth in health-care spending,
The other half was on food and fuel increases. How it is good to take all of Americans disposable income is beyond me.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a gun to someone’s head.
Paid for by raising the national debt.
Typical case of an idiot’s analysis of statistics.
obumbler care raised GDP because of money spent???
What would GDP have been had there been no obumbler care and employers had expanded and hired rather than cowering in fear of the future as they are now doing?
This is equivalent to getting fired from a $200,000 job, getting another for $100,000 and bragging that you have improved your position by $100,000.
100% democrat congress and senate approved.
“reflects additional spending associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”
Oh the irony. The Affordable Care Act is costing more for health care.
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