Headlines and Excerpts:
“The Huge Waste in the U.S. Health System” Austin Frakt/ New York Times October 7, 2019
A new study, published Monday in JAMA, finds that roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of American health care spending is wasteful. It’s a startling number but not a new finding. What is surprising is how little we know about how to prevent it.
New study estimates U.S. healthcare waste costs nearly $1 trillion each year Keith A Reynolds/ Medical Economics October 9, 2019
“There’s no denying healthcare is big business in the United States, with costs approaching 18 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.”
“Humana study reveals $265 billion wasted on health care each year in the US” Bruce D. Broussard/CNBC Oct 7, 2019
“A groundbreaking research study released Monday by Humana reveals $1 out of every $4 spent on health care in the U.S. annually is being wasted, totaling $265 billion.”
The Study:
Shrank WH, Rogstad TL, Parekh N. Waste in the US Health Care System: Estimated Costs and Potential for Savings JAMA. Published online October 07, 2019.
So What Is It: “nearly 1 trillion” or “$265 billion”?
Nearly 1 trillion. In 2017, US health care spending reached $3.5 trillion, or $10,739 per person: 17.9% of the US gross domestic product (GDP). Per the JAMA study, as much as $935 billion of that spending was wasted. Shame on CNBC for such sloppy reporting.
Here’s the breakdown :
Why is there so much waste in the healthcare system? To answer the question, you have to figure out who is benefiting from all that misspent money and why they have such political clout.
Next: Who is benefiting from healthcare overspending in the US and why do they have the political clout to prevent serious reform?