USA Health Care: $750 Billion in Annual Waste

[eyer]

Every year, the United States spends eight times as much money on unnecessary health-care costs as the Pentagon spent for each year of its operations in Iraq.

The massive annual waste is the takeaway from a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which estimates that the country loses some $750 billion annually to medical fraud, inefficiencies, and other siphons in the health-care system. In comparison, the Defense Department budgeted $757.8 billion for the war in Iraq over the eight years it was there.

The IOM's analysis acknowledges a little bit of overlap among the categories, so it altogether adds up to slightly more than $750 billion:

More than 18 months in the making, the report identified six major areas of waste: unnecessary services ($210 billion annually); inefficient delivery of care ($130 billion); excess administrative costs ($190 billion); inflated prices ($105 billion); prevention failures ($55 billion), and fraud ($75 billion). Adjusting for some overlap among the categories, the panel settled on an estimate of $750 billion.

By far the biggest black hole when it comes to waste has to do with how we practice medicine -- over half of it is accounted for by unnecessary services, inefficient care, or the failure to prevent problems that require expensive intervention.

Full piece here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...on-annually/262106/?google_editors_picks=true

 

[Mropietaylor69]

It's not surprising. Its been said before. "There's no money in health". Untill we are able to change that. The health industry will be riddled with waste. What makes me laugh even more is the blame on our President and what the new healthcare bill will give us. Waste, higher debt, but no one wants to talke\ about knowing the old system was inefficient. I'm not saying the new healthcare bill will be perfect, but it will be perfect in the thought that it's not trying the old method and hoping it gets better. People don't want to mention that healthcare has been a problem since the late 60's and this is the first President sense then that was able to pass any substantial type of legislation. It will get worse, and reminds me of an old saying, "things will get worse before they get better" and another one would be "the light always follows the darkness", so like I said, this information isn't surprising.

 

[eyer]

Waste, higher debt, but no one wants to talke about knowing the old system was inefficient. I'm not saying the new healthcare bill will be perfect, but...

Too friggin' funny...

 

[Sean]

When you have a profit motive in healthcare provision, you get unnecessary service. Doesn't take a genius to work that one out.

 

[eyer]

When you have a profit motive in healthcare provision, you get unnecessary service. Doesn't take a genius to work that one out.

When will you steal the ballz you lack from somebody else, to admit you're really a communist...

...and give up polishing the turd of the simple socialist you claim to be?

 

[Sean]

When will you steal the ballz you lack from somebody else, to admit you're really a communist...

...and give up polishing the turd of the simple socialist you claim to be?

Nice idea, communism. Maybe one day some society will actually try it.

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

i wish i had that amount of money.

 

[eyer]

Nice idea, communism. Maybe one day some society will actually try it.

Communism must utilize the hammer to force free individuals to comply with its tyranny...

...as has already been brought to light:

Simple socialists like you and your ilk don't posses the ballz to actually walk like you pretend to talk...

...for if you did, you'd just prove yourself to be the natural slave owner wannabe your pathetic, insecure ego needs to reassure the world you're really, really not.

 

[Sean]

Communism must utilize the hammer to force free individuals to comply with its tyranny...

...as has already been brought to light:

Simple socialists like you and your ilk don't posses the ballz to actually walk like you pretend to talk...

...for if you did, you'd just prove yourself to be the natural slave owner wannabe your pathetic, insecure ego needs to reassure the world you're really, really not.

You're confusing what happened in the Soviet Union with Communism. I'm not surprised, you're an idiot.

 

[eyer]

You're confusing what happened in the Soviet Union with Communism. I'm not surprised, you're an idiot.

Why should you be surprised when, as usual, your assumption directs you straight back to your intelligence?

Why don't you just open up to everyone for once and tell us all - as the communist you now preen to be - what, exactly, political Communism entails and how, exactly, political Communism affects the natural state of individual man.

What happened in your life to your manhood that you not only ceded your individually to the State...

...but insist that all other individuals are better off slaves, too?

 

[jeninflorida]

the only way to fix the problem is to spend another $750 Billion. the solution to ever problem is to double the spending as only massive amounts of cash will fix it.

also helps if you have Arthur Andersen providing the auditing services for the spending

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Full piece here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...on-annually/262106/?google_editors_picks=true

Least informative article ever posted. Waste of electrons.

 

[cjh]

the only way to fix the problem is to spend another $750 Billion. the solution to ever problem is to double the spending as only massive amounts of cash will fix it.

also helps if you have Arthur Andersen providing the auditing services for the spending

So, did you ever read the Terms of Service for your Twitter account, like a self-responsible person would?

 

[eyer]

Least informative article ever posted. Waste of electrons.

Your characteristic subjectivity is once again fully noted...

 

[cjh]

Your characteristic subjectivity is once again fully noted...

Are any private entities defrauding the system?

 

[jeninflorida]

Are any private entities defrauding the system?

those entities will go out of business. those defrauding the government, well they become democrats

 

[cjh]

those entities will go out of business. those defrauding the government, well they become democrats

You are such a hypocrite. Don't look out for yourself and seek a bailout after.

 

[jeninflorida]

You are such a hypocrite. Don't look out for yourself and seek a bailout after.

hum, no. you think that only those in the private sector are screwing the system. wake up, those in governemnt are doing way more damange

 

[eyer]

Are any private entities defrauding the system?

Is you dog neutered or spayed?

 

[tactful]

Think Government here, but they're trying, give them some slack, lots of people out there and some are really sick.

 

[jeninflorida]

Think Government here, but they're trying, give them some slack, lots of people out there and some are really sick.

and what's a couple hundred billion wasted in the grand scheme of obama's 16 trillion dollars of debt

 

[mercury14]

The VAST majority of this is private sector waste that has nothing to do with the government. Here's a bit of the article Eyer forgot to include in his paste:

Industry giants are already moving beginning to catch on to these ideas on their own, even independently of the Affordable Care Act, so chances are looking good that we'll soon cut down on at least some of these inefficiencies and wastes.

That's because the Affordable Care Act takes steps to reduce waste, fraud, and administrative inefficiencies. It takes steps to compensate doctors for results rather than for the quantity of services rendered. I take it Eyer is all for Obamacare.

Not that Eyer is interested in learning facts about healthcare, but here's the article his article references. It slams the hell out of the private healthcare model the US has and advocates for many of the things Obamacare includes. Thanks for posting this Eyer, it's great fuel for the single payer argument.

 

[cjh]

hum, no. you think that only those in the private sector are screwing the system. wake up, those in governemnt are doing way more damange

I don't think that.

I do know, though, that you granted Lance the right to republish your pictures.

And then you screamed for Lit government to bail you out when he exercised the right you gave him.

 

[cjh]

Is you dog neutered or spayed?

The same as you.

 

[jeninflorida]

so you are a bully