Pace of Rising Health Costs May Slow for U.S., Study Says

Cheap walk-up health clinics, lower costs for drugs and medical supplies and state laws requiring hospitals to publish prices may be helping to reduce the increase in U.S. health costs. Health-care costs are expected to rise 7.5 percent in 2013, or 5.5 percent when accounting for changes in insurance benefits, such as higher deductibles and co-payments, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in its annual report on the nation's medical cost trend. It is the fourth year in a row the annual cost increase is less than 8 percent. "Four years of historically low growth is noteworthy and we may be at the start of a new normal," said Ceci Connolly, managing director of the company's Health Research Institute, in a phone interview. . read more»