Health care spending on Medicare elderly dips, study finds
Health care spending among the Medicare population age 65 and older has slowed dramatically since 2005, and as much as half of that reduction can be attributed to reduced spending on cardiovascular disease, a new Harvard study says. Led by David Cutler, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, a team of researchers found that by 2012 those reductions saved the average person nearly $3,000 a year. Across the entire elderly population, those savings add up to a whopping $120 billion, with about half of those savings coming from Medicare. The study is described in a Feb. 4 paper published in Health Affairs. “This is the first time, to my knowledge, anyone has shown that some forms of medical care can save money,” Cutler said. “You see that claim all the time. But in terms of widespread preventive care saving money … we’ve never had that example before.” And though it can make...