(Bloomberg) Higher consumer spending on health services, increased prescriptions for costly medications and more elective surgeries suggests Americans are using the insurance they gained under Obamacare.
Consumer purchases of health services surged 9.9% at an annualized rate in the first quarter from the prior three months, the highest rate of growth since 1980, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Health spending contributed 1.1 percentage points to total growth in gross domestic product, the most since quarterly records began in 1947.
