After stalling in 2021, spending on home health care returned to a more normalized growth rate in 2022, according to a new analysis from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Specifically, national health expenditures on home health care increased by 6% to $132.9 billion in 2022. In 2021, spending only increased by 0.3%.
The analysis, which was published Wednesday in Health Affairs, also found that health care spending in the U.S. grew by 4.1% in 2022, reaching $4.5 trillion. Comparably, that’s above 2021 growth – 3.2% – but far below 2020 growth, which was 10.6%.
“In 2022, strong Medicaid and private health insurance spending growth, including a turnaround in the net cost of insurance, was somewhat offset by continued declines in federal spending associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” the analysis read. “The insured share of the population reached a historic high of 92% in 2022 as enrollment in private health insurance increased at a faster rate relative to 2021 and Medicaid enrollment continued to experience strong growth. The share of the economy accounted for by the health sector was 17.3% in 2022, which was down from a peak of 19.5% in 2020 but was more consistent with the average share of 17.5% during 2016–19.”
From 2016 to 2022, national health spending on home health care has risen from $93.8 billion to $132.9 billion. The growth seen in 2022 – about 6% – is in line with year-over-year jumps during that time period, outside of 2020 when home health spending grew by 11.2%.
Price growth for home health providers checked in at 2.5%, a relatively low rate that was comparable to the 3% growth nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities saw and the 2.8% growth hospitals saw.
Medicare accounted for $944.3 billion in spending in 2022, or just over 21% of all health care expenditures.
Medicaid, meanwhile, accounted for $805.7 billion in spending, or about 18% of all health care expenditures.
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