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American health-care spending likely snapped a five-year streak of historically slow growth last year, according to an analysis of new federal data by private economists at the Altarum Institute. The nation’s nearly $3 trillion medical bill grew 5 percent last year, compared with an average annual rate of 3.9 percent from 2009 to 2013, estimates Charles Roehrig, director of the nonprofit institute's Center for Sustainable Health Spending. (Tozzi, 3/11)

Perhaps healthcare spending is picking up again, data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate. Spending on hospitals, doctors and other providers in 2014 appears to have outpaced the slow growth rates of the past few years, according to the bureau. Healthcare spending grew at a 5.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter unadjusted for inflation or seasonal differences—a sizable difference from the U.S. Department of Commerce's most recent estimate of 3.9% but very close to actuarial predictions from September. (Herman, 3/11)