The Bureau of Economic Analysis released new figures 
Wednesday, revealing that the American economy grew just 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2014. In analysis of this news, several outlets point out that spending in the healthcare industry, however, has skyrocketed since the beginning of the year.
Indeed, Reuters (5/1, Mutikani) says that health spending growth, which shot up by a 9.9 percent annual rate, actually prevented the country’s GDP from contracting in the first three months of the year. The article, like many others, attributes this growth rate –the fastest in over thirty years – to insurance gains under the Affordable Care Act.
As Bloomberg News (5/1, Wayne) says, the increase in spending growth suggests “Americans are using the insurance they gained” under the Affordable Care Act. Indeed, there were increases in elective surgeries and “prescriptions for costly medications,” and overall health spending contributed 1.1% toward total GDP growth, “the most since quarterly records began in 1947.”
The Wall Street Journal (5/1, Sparshott, Morath) adds that Jason Furman, chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, applauded the news, saying, “People who didn’t have insurance before can now go to the hospital and the doctor. That’s good for the economy.” He also predicted that the ACA would continue to act as a “tailwind” to the economy for “the next year or two.”
Still, the uptick in spending on healthcare alarmed many. As Philip Klein writes in the Washington Examiner (5/1), the acceleration comes after years of “Obama and his allies…crediting a slowdown in the rate of growth for health care to payment reforms imposed by the law.” Indeed, Obama argued for passage of the ACA in part because spending was heading toward a share of the economy that was “unsustainable.” Klein also notes that the economic figures reflect the cost of implementing the Affordable Care Act.
Roll Call (5/1, Bettelheim, Subscription Publication) reports that Furman, seeking to temper this type of negative reaction to the uptick in health spending, said, “The sharp increase in estimated utilization appears to have been driven by greater use of health care services by people who gained insurance coverage during the first quarter because of the Affordable Care Act … this increase in utilization is neither a surprise, nor a cause for concern.”
Similarly, under the headline, “Your Guide To The Latest Freakout Over Healthcare Spending,” the Huffington Post (5/1, Young) offers this assessment: “Who could have predicted that a recovering economy, higher incomes and a rise in the number of people with health coverage brought about by Obamacare would increase how much Americans are spending on medical care? Well, pretty much anyone.”
