"[G]rowth in health spending slowed considerably during the recent recession, falling from 6.0 percent in 2007, to 3.9 percent in 2011. But spending growth was already falling prior to the recession's start in 2007.... [A]lthough the pre-recession spending slowdown may have been a spontaneous response to consistent growth in health care costs that exceeded the growth in incomes, [the authors] suggest that a decade-long slowdown in economic activity was a major contributor."

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