Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist from Vermont, is now chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The HELP committee has more power than any other health committee in Congress. In a hearing that took place on Friday, February 17 the committee discussed the growing shortage of skilled workers in health care. Kaiser Health News reported on the hearing.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
How Much Waste in Health Care?
A recent analysis from the Peterson Foundation found that the U.S. is spending over $1,000 per person on administrative costs, “five times more than the average of other wealthy countries and more than we spend on preventive or long-term healthcare.”
A piece by Dr. Robert Kocher published in 2013 in the Harvard Business Review found that over 22 years (1990– 2012), there was a 75% increase in the number of workers in our nation’s health system, but the overwhelming majority (95%) were in non-doctor positions. In fact, for every one doctor there were sixteen non-doctor workers, and 10 of those were “purely administrative and management staff, receptionists and information clerks, and office clerks.” The sheer size of the administrative arm of American health care had become daunting.
More Americans Delay Care Due to Cost
It’s no mystery that Americans are paying a bigger share of their medical bills out-of-pocket these days. Health plan deductibles have about doubled in the past two decades. My 2023 health plan deductible is nearly $9,000. Some family plans have combined deductibles of $15,000. High deductibles are causing more Americans to delay medical care according to The New York Times.
Thursday Links
- CBO: the US is on track to add $19 Trillion in new debt over the next ten years.
- The US produces only 14% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed for generic drugs. India, China, and Italy are the top producers
- Site neutral payments could save Medicare $150 billion over ten years. (And stop encouraging hospitals to buy up doctor practices.)
- Are physician-owned hospitals the answer to hospital concentration?
- John Cleese explains extremism.