A new article in Health Affairs projected the national health expenditures over the next decade.
Here are five key trends:
1. The national health expenditures are expected to grow at a 5.6 percent average annual rate through 2025. Growth slowed in 2016 to 4.8 percent due to slower Medicaid and prescription drug sector growth, according to the report.
2. The national health expenditures are expected to account for 19.9 percent of the gross domestic product by 2025.
3. Medical price growth is expected to be offset by the slower projected growth in medical goods and services used over the next decade, when compared to the growth in 2014 to 2016.
4. The previous growth in medical service use was due to the ACA's coverage expansion.
5. The population of insured people is expected to grow from 90.5 percent in 2015 to 91.5 percent in 2025.
"There is considerable uncertainty regarding how the nation's healthcare will be delivered and paid going forward," concluded the study authors. Republicans introduced the American Health Care Act, meant to replace the ACA, earlier this week. But it may not change overall projections. "Irrespective of any changes in law, it is expected that because of continued cost pressures associated with paying for healthcare, employers, insurers and other payers will continue to pursue strategies that seek to effectively manage the use and cost of healthcare goods and services."