Feb. 8—Net outlays for Medicare grew by 3 percent (or $16 billion) in 2012—a slower rate of growth than any recorded since 2000 and significantly lower than Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections, according to the CBO’s The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023 report. As a result, CBO has reduced its 10-year projections of outlays for Medicare by $137 billion (or 2 percent).

In 2013, outlays for Medicare will increase by 4 percent (or $21 billion) and by 6 percent (or $15 billion) for Medicaid, CBO estimates.

Medicaid spending also declined in 2012 by 9 percent (or $24 billion), primarily because a temporary increase in the federal share of the program’s costs expired in June 2011.

Publication Date: Friday, February 08, 2013