Prices for nursing home care grew the fastest in June among the major healthcare categories, at 6.2%. Prices for home healthcare increased by 4.4%.
That’s according to Altarum’s monthly Health Sector Economics Indicator brief, released Wednesday.
According to the nonprofit, the overall Health Care Price Index increased by 2.8% year over year in June, slowing almost half a percentage point from May (3.2%). Economywide, at 3%, the inflation rate reached its lowest point last month since March 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Across all the major health categories, healthcare spending grew the fastest for nursing home and home healthcare in May 2023, at 12% and 11.5% year-over-year growth respectively. This spending growth is significantly faster than overall healthcare spending growth in May, which was 6% year over year,” Corwin “Corey” Rhyan, MPP, Altarum research director of health economics and policy, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
“This faster-than-overall growth is driven by both price increases and utilization increases, he said, adding that the 6.2% and 4.4% price increases seen for nursing homes and home healthcare, respectively, “made the two categories among the fastest-growing of the major sectors.”
Year-over-year growth spending on personal healthcare without government subsidies in May increased by 9.3%, year over year, and by 8.5% when subsidies are included, exceeding the gross domestic product growth rate for the fourth consecutive month.
Leaving aside government subsidies, year-over-year spending on nursing home care (12.7%) and home healthcare (12.2%) grew fastest in May, whereas physician and clinical services spending increased the least (8.2%) among the major healthcare categories.
Healthcare added 41,100 jobs in June, similar to the monthly average of 42,300 jobs added to date this year. Rhyan noted that employment in nursing homes and home healthcare settings increased at an above-average rate in June, increasing 4.8% and 5.2%, respectively.
Healthcare wage growth in May was 4.1% year over year.
“Wage growth in healthcare settings is now highest in hospitals, at 5.4% year over year in May 2023,” Altarum said. “Wage growth in nursing and residential care has fallen to 4.4% from a high of 11% last spring, while wage growth in ambulatory care settings was 3%.”
