Gov't forecasts rising health care inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new government forecast says the nation's respite from troublesome health care inflation is ending.

Projections released Wednesday by nonpartisan experts with the Health and Human Services department say the pace of health care spending will pick up again in 2015 and beyond.

That's going to create challenges for President Barack Obama's successor in the White House.

The report from the Office of the Actuary projects that health care spending will grow by an average of 6 percent a year from 2015-2023, an increase from five consecutive years of annual growth below 4 percent.

Economic recovery, an aging society, and more people with health coverage are driving the trend.

The United States will spend more than $3 trillion on health care this year, far above any other economically advanced country.