How long this trend will continue is extremely difficult to predict. We know very little about how rapidly medical technology will continue to advance and how those innovations will translate into future spending. Technological innovations can greatly improve the quality of medical care and can, in some instances, reduce the costs of existing treatments.
But because technology expands the set of treatment possibilities, it also has the potential to add to overall spending - in some cases, a great deal. In implementing policy, we need to be cognizant that the uncertainties - especially our inability to identify the upper bound of future demands for medical care - counsel significant prudence in policymaking.