It’s no secret that medical costs in the United States are alarmingly high. Overpriced hospital bills represent a significant waste of money that severely impacts American healthcare. International research reveals that the U.S. spends more than $1 billion dollars daily on medical bureaucracy – the highest amount globally. Astonishingly, a full quarter of U.S. hospital budgets goes toward bureaucracy, double the amount spent in any other country.
What Drives High Administrative Costs
The immense administrative costs found in U.S. hospitals exceed those in other countries. In the U.S., annual hospital administrative spending averages $667 per person. In contrast, administrative spending in other countries is significantly lower, including Canada ($158 per person), Scotland ($164), Wales ($211), England ($225), and the Netherlands ($325). Research shows that the administrative costs are lowest, at approximately 12 percent, in Scotland and Canada. These countries have single-payer medical systems that fund hospitals through universal, lump-sum budgets – much like how U.S. fire departments receive funding.
Two primary factors contribute to the waste of money in the U.S. healthcare system:
- Multiple health insurance companies: The United States has an abundance of health insurance companies that use different pay scales and require various types of documentation from doctors and hospitals.
- Incentives to maximize profits: In the current U.S. healthcare system, hospitals – even nonprofit institutions – are encouraged to increase profits (and surpluses) in order to install new equipment and continually upgrade their facilities.
As a result of these factors, an estimated $150 billion is wasted each year on hospital bureaucracy. In addition, $300 billion more is squandered each year on insurance companies’ overhead and the paperwork they impose on doctors.
Potential Solutions
There is a growing belief among experts that a single-payer, government-run healthcare system could significantly reduce these exorbitant costs. As researcher Steffie Woolhandler highlights, “For three decades our policymakers have pushed market-oriented strategies that have turned health care into a business. As a result, Americans now have the world’s costliest health care, and our life expectancy is years shorter than in most other wealthy nations. It’s time to admit that, when it comes to caring for sick people, markets don’t work.”
To illustrate this point, data from Canada and Scotland indicate that their single-payer medical systems have led to much lower administrative costs. The U.S. could potentially learn from these models in order to reduce the amount of money wasted on bureaucracy. Healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality could be improved by investing these wasted funds into patient care.
Is This A Sustainable Approach?
The current state of healthcare in the United States is unsustainable if significant changes are not made. The billions of dollars wasted on bureaucracy and administrative overhead could be better used toward ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare. The path to prudent investments in healthcare may lie in learning from the successful models in countries like Canada and Scotland, where a single-payer system has led to vastly reduced administrative costs. This could be a crucial step in steering U.S. healthcare dollars in the right direction and ultimately improving the health and well-being of the American population.
