U.S. healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year

[kaydee457 13]

Wait a minute, I thought the big bad insurance companies were screwing us....now I'm confused <scratching head>. Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest told us it was the big bad corporations..........

The question needs to be asked; why the hell don't they (the Dems) concentrate on these problems instead of dismatling the entire system and forcing "reform" (aka socialist medicine) on a populace that doesn't want it?

Oh, cuz they're Liberals and know what's best for we little folk.....Of course none of this applies to them for they have their HC system and as we all know, it's just OUR system that needs an overhaul.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.

The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.

"America's healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial," the report reads.

"The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That's one-third of the nation's healthcare bill," Kelley said in a statement.

"The good news is that by attacking waste we can reduce healthcare costs without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care."

One example -- a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.

"It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient's record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed," the report reads.

Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters:

* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.

* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.

* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.

* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.

* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.

"The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada," reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.

"American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada," it says, quoting a 2003 New England Journal of Medicine paper by Harvard University researcher Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

Yet primary care doctors are lacking, forcing wasteful use of emergency rooms, for instance, the report reads.

All this could help explain why Americans spend more per capita and the highest percentage of GDP on healthcare than any other OECD country, yet has an unhealthier population with more diabetes, obesity and heart disease and higher rates of neonatal births than other developed nations.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday that Senate Democratic leaders are close to securing enough votes to pass legislation to start reform of the country's $2.5 trillion healthcare system.

article

Edited October 26, 2009 by *entitlements_yay

[Niels Bohr 72]

Nobody complained about the waste that the DoD has.

[kaydee457 13]

Nobody complained about the waste that the DoD has.

No waste in DOD.....

Oh, BTW here's a bit more sarcasm. How absurd is it to believe that the U.S. Government, you know, Congress, has the ability to cobble together a HC system that is FRAUD FREE, and WASTE FREE?

Do they have a track record we can hang our hat on? NOPE......

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada," reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.

Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.

This is the price of not having a single payer system - i.e. it is directly attributable to the fact that we have private insurance companies between the patient and the medical care provider.

Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.

This is the price of not having universal coverage. Seeing that it accounts for about half of the total cost of providing at least near universal coverage, the case for universal coverage just gets stronger.

Despite the cost of fraud in the Medicare system, an item that needs to be addressed for sure, Medicare has been far more successful in containing health care costs than the private insurance industry has been - average annual growth of 9.6% for the former vs. 11.1% for the latter. Small difference you say? Well, consider that at these growth rates, $1,000.00 in 1980 would grow to $14,272.00 under Medicare growth rates and to $21,170 under private insurance growth rates. Which means that the runaway growth in the private insurance system vs. the Medicare system makes care almost 50% more expensive in the private insurance system after just three decades.

Not a good deal in my book and reason enough to take a good, hard look at how the private insurance system can at least be brought in line from an efficiency point of view with Medicare. That would be a good start in curbing the cost of our health care system.

[Heracles 417]

* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.

Unnecessary care goes hand in hand with US lawsuits. A doctor has to protect themselves. Fix the litigation mess this country is renowned for and that would solve this problem. On this issues I agree it's 100% the libs fault.

* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.

Setup an independent government body to monitor this. Severely punish anyone who abuses the system. Repubs seem to protect such fraud as they benefit from this.

* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.

Private industry related issue. I thought the private industry was good at everything.

* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.

* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.

Flawed Repub mentality of I don't want government in my house bla bla bla. Most other first world governments actively promote health foods, active communities. Repubs don't want the government regulating things like the quality of foods, fat and sugar in foods etc. Repubs don't care if a meal is 10,000 calories. Repubs are not interested in government mandating active communities, with side-walks, parks etc. The private sector has failed the country in this area and for obvious reasons. Rather than even factoring what is best for the long-term viability for a community, they're solely interested in the quick buck. Counties and the state has a huge say in the planning and design of a private community in Aus. There are a multitude of good planning guidelines they must follow.

"The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada," reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.

I thought insurance companies and the private sector was the answer to everything. First time I ever saw 4 bills at once for a simple doctors visit, was when I visited a doctor here. It took nearly a month for me to sort out this billing mess with the insurance. Anyone who has watched Michael Moore's Sicko would have seen that in countries like the UK, Canada or Australia, our public hospitals have no billing departments.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Booyah!

[Niels Bohr 72]

There are wastes within the DoD for those who are not aware. They have scraped many mid-stage progress for many defense systems after spending billions. What do you call that?

I'm at work so I can't dig up that article from IEEE. For those who are not aware, IEEE is the organization for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. I have on my desk. And, I could search for it here, but, I forgot the title of the article.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[Heracles 417]

There are wastes within the DoD for those who are not aware. They have scraped many mid-stage progress for many defense systems after spending billions. What do you call that?

I'm at work so I can't dig up that article from IEEE. For those who are not aware, IEEE is the organization for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. I have on my desk. And, I could search for it here, but, I forgot the title of the article.

DoD is the largest black hole of them all. You don't need to search for it, I have spoken to numerous people who describe the massive wastage. For example, the DoD approves projects and funds them, however, they are never started or completed because the company knows that the DoD will not bother chasing it up.

Or my favorite where the US government has to buy parts from independent small supplies, in many cases working out of closed up 7/11's in ghettos and pay a premium for basic parts. These people basically buy unused or discontinued parts at government auctions on the cheap. They then register them and get to sell them at a premium to any government workshop that needs them.

Not to mention the private companies that are able to bill the government $20K for a $50 valve.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Booyah!

[Dan J 277]

Wait a minute, I thought the big bad insurance companies were screwing us....now I'm confused <scratching head>. Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest told us it was the big bad corporations..........

The question needs to be asked; why the hell don't they (the Dems) concentrate on these problems instead of dismatling the entire system and forcing "reform" (aka socialist medicine) on a populace that doesn't want it?

Oh, cuz they're Liberals and know what's best for we little folk.....Of course none of this applies to them for they have their HC system and as we all know, it's just OUR system that needs an overhaul.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.

The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.

"America's healthcare system is indeed hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial," the report reads.

"The bad news is that an estimated $700 billion is wasted annually. That's one-third of the nation's healthcare bill," Kelley said in a statement.

"The good news is that by attacking waste we can reduce healthcare costs without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care."

One example -- a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending.

"It is waste when caregivers duplicate tests because results recorded in a patient's record with one provider are not available to another or when medical staff provides inappropriate treatment because relevant history of previous treatment cannot be accessed," the report reads.

Some other findings in the report from Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters:

* Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure makes up 37 percent of healthcare waste or $200 to $300 a year.

* Fraud makes up 22 percent of healthcare waste, or up to $200 billion a year in fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.

* Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork account for 18 percent of healthcare waste.

* Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary spending each year, or 11 percent of the total.

* Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.

"The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada," reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.

"American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada," it says, quoting a 2003 New England Journal of Medicine paper by Harvard University researcher Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

Yet primary care doctors are lacking, forcing wasteful use of emergency rooms, for instance, the report reads.

All this could help explain why Americans spend more per capita and the highest percentage of GDP on healthcare than any other OECD country, yet has an unhealthier population with more diabetes, obesity and heart disease and higher rates of neonatal births than other developed nations.

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday that Senate Democratic leaders are close to securing enough votes to pass legislation to start reform of the country's $2.5 trillion healthcare system.

article

Congratulations, you made the argument for universal healthcare.

[kaydee457 13]

Ah, we're hearing from all the Socialist...Where's my Conservative friends?

Edited October 26, 2009 by *entitlements_yay

[Heracles 417]

Ah, we're hearing from all the Socialist...Where's my Yank Conservative friends?

fixed

[Dan J 277]

Ah, we're hearing from all the Socialist...Where's my Conservative friends?

They are confused, the conservative argument has never been about cost. It has been about protecting waste, after all, how else do we keep the investor class happy. Of course that's never explicitly mentioned as greed never sells, instead FUD about increasing costs on businesses and middle class, and how everyone will loose their health coverage.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

We need a Republican administration. They never wasted one cent.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We need a Republican administration. They never wasted one cent.

And I could have sworn that for 20 out of the last 28 years, Republicans have run the administration.