We Just Saw The Biggest Explosion In Health-Care Spending In Over 30 Years, And It Had A Big Impact On GDP

This is from Brett Logiurato at the Business Insider:

Spending on health care grew an astounding 9.9% in the Bureau of Economic Analysis' advance estimate of first-quarter GDP.

It's the biggest percent change in health-care spending since 1980, when health-care spending jumped 10% in the third quarter. Analysts said it's primarily due to a consumption boost from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Adjusted for inflation, America is spending more on health care than ever before. 

Personal consumption grew by 3.0%, about half of which was due to the growth in health-care spending, said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"If health-care spending had been unchanged, the headline GDP growth number would have been -1.0%," Shepherdson said. ...

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