title: Tracking health care costs: trends turn downward in 2003.
abstract: This Data Bulletin is based on data from the Milliman USA Health Cost Index ($0 deductible), which is designed to reflect claims trends faced by private insurers; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Producer Price Index for general medical and surgical hospitals and for physicians' offices to track hospital and physician prices; the BLS's Consumer Price Index for prescription drugs and medical supplies to track prescription drug prices; and the Towers Perrin 2004 Health Care Cost Survey and the Ninth Annual National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt Employer Survey Report 2004 for premium trends. It is adapted from "Tracking Health Care Costs: Trends Turn Downward in 2003" by Bradley C. Strunk and Paul B. Ginsburg, Health Affairs, Web-exclusive publication, June 9, 2004, www.healthaffairs.org
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States