Health Care Costs

The Washington Post “Wonkblog” reports researchers found that the U.S. “spends almost twice as much on health care as 10 other wealthy countries, a difference driven by high prices – including doctors’ and nurses’ salaries, hospital charges, pharmaceuticals and administrative overhead.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The New York Times “The Upshot” blog reports the researchers found that the US healthcare system was similar to those in the other countries studied in many ways, but were “quite different” in two areas. The investigators concluded that the US pays “higher prices for medical services, including hospitalization, doctors’ visits and prescription drugs,” and the US also has higher “administrative costs.”

And this: A chart from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that twenty percent of the population accounts for 80 percent of total expenditures. Maybe even more shockingly, the chart also shows that just 5 percent of the population accounts for 50 percent of all expenditures.

Accountants are circling. Prepare yourselves.