Health Law gives boost to U.S. economy

The Fiscal Times: Obamacare Boosted Health Care Spending -- And GDP
Health care spending grew at the fastest rate in three decades in the first quarter of the year, boosting GDP growth by 1.1 percentage points -- enough to lift the overall economy from contraction to modest 0.1 percent expansion. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said Wednesday that health care spending grew by 9.9 percent -- the fastest surge since the third quarter of 1980, when spending on health care shot up by 10 percent. In a note accompanying the data release, the BEA said the jump reflected "additional spending associated with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act." The agency noted, though, that because the preliminary data used in preparing the GDP report did not reflect the effects of Obamacare, its estimates of health care spending were based on Medicaid benefits, enrollment data from the new insurance exchanges and other information. That means the data could be heavily revised in the next two months (Ehley, 4/30).

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