In 2014, rising prices were largely to blame for the growth in children’s health care spending, according to a report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). Health care spending for children under employer-sponsored plans grew 5.1% a year from 2010 to 2014, reaching $2,660 in 2014. But the use of health care services declined from 2012 to 2014. HCCI senior researcher Amanda Frost said, “The decline in children’s use of health care services is a relatively new trend…While we know that prices have fueled much of the spending growth in 2014, future research should examine whether these higher expenditures are leading to better health care outcomes for children.” The survey also reveals the following:
- Out-of-pocket health care spending on children increased 5.5% a year to $472 in 2014. This growth was due partly to higher out-of-pocket spending on ER visits, which increased 11.7% annually.
- The average price for brand prescriptions went from $7 a day in 2010 to $16 a day in 2014.
- The rise in the average price of brand prescriptions drove spending increases. In 2014, spending for brand prescriptions rose 6.8%. The average price for generic prescriptions remained stable.
- In 2010, the average price of a surgical admission for a child was $35,423, and jumped to $53,372 in 2014.
- ER visits accounted for 8% of health care spending for children in 2014.
- The average price of an ER visit increased $298 from 2010 to 2014. At the same time, the number of ER visits dropped from 181 visits per 1,000 children in 2010 to 177 visits in 2014.
- In 2014, there were 3,228 doctor visits per 1,000 children, down slightly from the previous year.
- Doctor visits accounted for 12% of spending in 2014 ($339 a child), and made up the largest share of health care spending for the average child.
