In 2007, there was a slowdown in the rate of medical spending, according to recent federal data. It’s the first such slowdown in over 45 years. A big part of that rate of decline was in the major decrease in spending for pharmaceuticals and related expenses.  But at over 16% of the GDP, many healthcare economists worry about healthcare spending’s sustainability, and that has the new Congress ready to concerned and ready to act this year. One way that may help would be to reexamine SCHIP, the bill authorizing individual states’ help for families in states in which Medicaid does not cover all basic healthcare expenses to children who need it. Its present incarnation expires in March, and a reorganization is in order; Obama has hinted at this.

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