Cost increases for healthcare in the U.S. have been consistently rising for some time now, and the 12 month stretch ending in February 2011 was no exception, Standard and Poor's said. However, researchers from that company noted that the rate at which those costs have increased has slowed.

Compared to February 2010, healthcare costs were measured to be 6.19 percent higher last month, the study found, but this increase is below both the 6.31 percent figure seen between January 2010 and January 2011 and the record year-over-year growth rate of nearly 9 percent seen between May 2009 and the same period in 2010.

David Blitzer, chairman of Standard and Poor's index committee, said in a statement that some types of health insurance and other care costs have slowed their increases faster than others.

"While all of the indices have seen their growth rates decelerate over the past year, Medicare claim costs, particularly those associated with hospitals, have witnessed the largest slowdown. Both the Medicare Composite and the Hospital Medicare Indices posted the lowest growth rates we have seen in their six years of history," he said.