· The deceleration was influenced by slower growth in medical benefits and a decline in fees and taxes resulting from the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2016, which suspended collection of the health insurance provider fee in 2017. Medicare spending (20 percent of total healthcare spending) grew 4.2 percent to $705.9 billion in 2017, which was about the same rate as in 2016 when spending grew 4.3 percent. In 2017, ….