Analy­sis shows that health care spend­ing was 7.3% high­er in the first quar­ter of 2015 than in the first quar­ter of last year, with hos­pi­tal spend­ing increas­ing 9.2% alone. Accord­ing to the US Cen­sus Bureau, greater use of health ser­vices as well as more peo­ple cov­ered by the ACA appear to be respon­si­ble for most of the increase. As the econ­o­my improves, peo­ple are begin­ning to use more physi­cian and out­pa­tient ser­vices, while the num­ber of days spent in hos­pi­tals also rose.