Among other inside-the-beltway buzz words being used in the health care reform debate is "cost curve".  In this context, this refers to the line, or curve, on a graph that shows how much spending on health care is expected to increase over time.  When we hear about bending, raising, or lowering the "cost curve" it is usually about how a certain policy change would change the current expected cost increase.  The Senate Joint Economic Committee has released this helpful graph that shows how much it expects the House Democrat's "tri-committee" health care proposal to increase the growth of health care costs over the next 10 years ("raising the cost curve" or "bending the cost curve up"--meaning costing more as time goes on).  The red line is expected costs under the proposed changes, the white line is expected increases under current law:

If you can't read the fine print, it says it takes the "significantly expands" health care cost growth quote from Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf's testimony on July 16, 2009 before the Senate Budget Committee on H.R.3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009."  You can also see him make this case on video.

If you're interested in the original data used, the sources they list are:

1. CMS National Health Expenditures projections data based on the latest historical year (2007), released January 2009. (Estimates by calendar year.)

2. CBO "Estimate of the Effects on Direct Spending & Revenues of Division B and C and Section 164 of H.R. 3200, as Introduced July 14, 2009," July 17, 2009. (Estimates by fiscal year.)

3. CBO "Preliminary Analysis of the Insurance Coverage Specifications Provided by the House Tri-Committee Group," July 14, 2009. (Estimates by fiscal year.)