U.S. health care spending grew at a historically slow rate in 2009, but the slowdown wasn’t because of a healthier population or better coordination of care.
Most was because cash-strapped patients avoided medical care, according to a federal report.
In the recession, many who took pay cuts or lost jobs and health insurance ended up delaying medical care, according to an annual report on health expenditures released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Consumers spent less out of pocket, went to the doctor less often and spent less on physician visits, the report found.
Local medical providers are witnessing the effect firsthand.