Doctor's Bill

Health Spending Will Rise

Over next decade despite reform law.

Spending on health care will continue to rise over the next decade despite the reform law passed in the spring, a change from earlier projections of the overhaul’s price. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project the law will grow 6.3 percent a year, up from its February estimate of 6.1 percent a year, because of the health care law. Nearly one in five American dollars will be spent on health care by 2019. Patients will have more benefits, however, the report found. In another setback for the plan, insurance companies have increased their rates by between 1 percent and 9 percent across the country in response to new federal rules, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. In response, Democrats said they would put more pressure on insurers.