Newsroom
Read about our latest research, initiatives, announcements, and other news.
Altarum and VBID Health Launch Consortium to Address Waste in Health Care
September 20, 2018 | Press Release
Altarum and VBID Health today announce the launch of the Research Consortium for Health Care Value Assessment, a PhRMA Foundation-funded initiative that brings together researchers working in health care value to collaborate, share findings, and develop research ideas to help address inefficiencies in health care.
Health Care Employment Accelerates as Health Spending Growth Remains Stable
September 14, 2018 | Press Release
At $3.67 trillion (seasonally adjusted annual rate), national health spending in July 2018 was 4.8 percent higher than it was in July 2017, and the health spending share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 17.8 percent.
Michigan Health Endowment Fund Partners with Altarum to Evaluate Behavioral Health Access for Michigan Residents
August 21, 2018 | Press Release
People living with mental illness or addiction die an average of 25 years earlier than the general population, yet many Michigan residents face barriers to critical treatment. The Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund) has commissioned a study to review and report on access to mental health and substance use disorder treatments for Michigan residents.
Revised Data Signal Accelerating Health Care Spending Growth
August 08, 2018 | Press Release
At $3.66 trillion (seasonally adjusted annual rate), national health spending in June 2018 was 5.2 percent higher than it was in June 2017, and the health spending share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 17.9 percent.
Private Insurance Spending Now Growing Faster than Public Insurance Spending
July 18, 2018 | Press Release
New research from Altarum finds that spending and price growth among the privately-insured population accelerated in 2017 and early 2018 relative to Medicare and Medicaid, despite very low growth in private insurance enrollment.
Revised Spending Data and Gross Domestic Product Spurt Brings Health Share Down to 17.9%
June 15, 2018 | Press Release
While earlier data suggested a recent acceleration, with revised data, we estimate spending growth of 4.7% for the first four months of 2018, barely above the 4.6% rate seen for all of 2017.
Health Care Jobs Engine Propels Share of Total Jobs to All-Time High
May 11, 2018 | Press Release
In April 2018, the health care sector added 24,400 new jobs, consistent with the 12-month average of 25,500 new jobs per month, but enough to propel the health share of total U.S. jobs to 10.76%, a new all-time high. Hospitals added 8,000 jobs in April, and ambulatory settings such as physician offices and home health added 16,900 new jobs.
Health Care Prices and Spending Accelerating
April 13, 2018 | Press Release
In March 2018, the Health Care Price Index rose by 2.2% compared to the previous year, fractionally higher than in February, and the highest rate since January 2012. Driving overall price acceleration is high hospital price growth of 3.7%, barely down from 3.8% in February—a more than 8-year high.