New Report: $750B in Health Care Waste - Politics and Economics

“I was surprised at how much waste there seems to be,” said report author Dr. Mark Smith, a former expert adviser to President Clinton’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform and president of the Oakland-based California HealthCare Foundation. “We’re spending money in ways that don’t seem to improve people’s health.”

I condensed the categories of waste into a handy little pie chart for y'all.

The point of my post here is Democrats need stop blaming the big bad insurance companies!

09-06-2012 , 10:18 PM

whickerda

adept

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,066

This is very surprising to me. "Unnecessary Services" and "Excessive Administrative Costs" are the biggest piece of the pie. Wow, never would have imagined. Maybe we need to put more money into this.

09-06-2012 , 10:19 PM

swinginglory

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Quote:

Originally Posted by goofball

Report from the institute of medicine estimates health care waste at $750B in 2009.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2...llion-in-2009/

I condensed the categories of waste into a handy little pie chart for y'all.

The point of my post here is Democrats need stop blaming the big bad insurance companies!

Dr. Smith should never hold a regulatory position in health care if he is actually shocked, shocked to find so much waste.

I was surprised the inflated prices part was so small. A 30 day supply of Hrdrochlorothiazide and the ACE Inhibitor generic Vasotec cost $4 each, but a single Cialis pill costs >$25!

I guess the drug companies know you'll pay more to fix your dick than your heart.

***********......

09-06-2012 , 10:58 PM

grizy

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My first reaction: 45%? (~1.7 trillion Gross output by healthcare service according to BEA's 2009 GDP) Can't be. We're bad, but not that bad.

Then I found something else.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/daily...-care-spending

Just makes me even more convinced healthcare reform should be near the top of the nation's agenda right now.

09-06-2012 , 11:01 PM

Regret$

burnt out

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I didn't realize Rick Scott's had so much of the piece of the pie!

09-06-2012 , 11:07 PM

whickerda

adept

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Regret$

I didn't realize Rick Scott's had so much of the piece of the pie!

LOL! Hey, but it's not a problem. Sure his company was convicted of medicare fraud while he was CEO but he was cleared of all wrong-doing. We're cool.

09-06-2012 , 11:09 PM

Double Eagle

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Quote:

Originally Posted by grizy

Just makes me even more convinced healthcare reform should be near the top of the nation's agenda right now.

I mean the trick is figuring out which care is unnecessary. It's one thing to say that in the aggregate we do too much treatment for prostate cancer and not enough watchful waiting, but it's a lot harder to convince doctors and patients that that's the best path for them without the figurative Death Panels dictating the choice.

09-06-2012 , 11:11 PM

Low Key

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there was a story on NPR recently about how Obama admin had modernized the handling of medicare claims which was drastically reducing fraudulent claims payments

I don't know much else about it, though

09-06-2012 , 11:24 PM

Wamp

journeyman

Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 364

New Report: $750B in Health Care Profit

Last edited by Wamp; 09-06-2012 at 11:25 PM. Reason: fyt

09-06-2012 , 11:28 PM

#10

grizy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Eagle

the numbers are still pretty staggering even if you cut unnecessary by half (although that would have brought them in line with what my intuition expected)

09-06-2012 , 11:37 PM

#11

Howard Beale

Formerly red

Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 22,190

Roughly $190 billion was wasted on administrative costs in 2009, according to the report.

How do they come up w/ this? Are they talking private insurers, Medicare, both?

09-07-2012 , 12:35 AM

#12

mrmarky

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Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 1,072

Take this for what you will, I spoke to a cardiologist, and he said that IRT cardiological care (he works with a lot of 55+ y/os) he is astounded at how many of his colleagues just order pointless tests that are "precautionary" so they can bill patients (medicare in most cases).

09-07-2012 , 12:39 AM

#13

grizy

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warped incentive structures
moral hazard
so on and so forth

09-07-2012 , 12:46 AM

#14

Sub-Zer0118

old hand

Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,223

Hmm... I think they need to take some more out of my check, redistribute, reevaluate, and proceed from there.

09-07-2012 , 12:50 AM

#15

Double Eagle

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Quote:

Originally Posted by grizy

warped incentive structures
moral hazard
so on and so forth

You know it's very funny that Kenneth Arrow told us pretty much everything we needed to know about the market for health care 50 years ago but when your society has a fetish for capitalism but is unwilling to let people (visibly) die in the gutter this is what you get.

Rent seekers gonna rent seek, market participants gonna exercise market power.

09-07-2012 , 12:53 AM

#16

grizy

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Eagle

My problem was always with this hybrid bastardized system we got. Either give me pure incentive where doctors (and payers) are allowed to let people die because they can't pay or give me a system that makes sure everyone contributes.

Hm... totally missed the point on the structure (especially incentive structure) of the system itself but that's a whole other can of worms.

09-07-2012 , 12:55 AM

#17

LirvA

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Wow so much waste! omg how can that be????

09-07-2012 , 01:01 AM

#18

[Phill]

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The irony of course is the people who are posting in this thread about how socialism is all terrible and **** are missing the fact that the socialised healthcare systems cost less, in many areas provide better results and are efficient precisely because they cost control.

There are many many approaches to take, Romney praised Israel's version, Japan's version is pretty decent, the UK, French and German systems all have functioned well for a long time and produce good results too. Pick and choose how you like, but the results are in for the best ways to provide healthcare.

09-07-2012 , 02:26 AM

#19

goofball

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Countries with socialized medicine do seem to have better outcomes for lower costs. I wish people weren't so afraid to explore why.

09-07-2012 , 02:26 AM

#20

goofball

Beat Nate Silver

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Quote:

Originally Posted by LirvA

Wow so much waste! omg how can that be????

Every problem's a nail huh

09-07-2012 , 02:40 AM

#21

einbert

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The millions of seniors scraping by on Social Security and Medicare, that worked hard for 40+ years paying into the system by the way, when they are spending that money on rent and groceries are they spending their own money or someone else's?

09-07-2012 , 08:24 AM

#22

awval999

Election Monitor.

Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 6,269

This thread comes up like every 6 months. We spend too much money on end of life care in this country. We prolong the duration of life at the expense of the quality of life for our elderly.

And when any politician brings this up we get a DNC television ad of Paul Ryan pushing grannie off of the cliff and the a Teabagger protest screaming the word "DEATH PANELS" at Obama.

09-07-2012 , 08:58 AM

#23

Low Key

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Quote:

Originally Posted by goofball

Every problem's a nail huh

Does this mean we have to start referring to the great and powerful Milton Friedman, peaceful blessings unto him, as The Hammer?

09-07-2012 , 09:37 AM

#24

spike420211

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Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmarky

'Sok... I had a pulmonary specialist trolling for a lung cancer diagnosis for 8 months after my stroke, chest x-rays, sleep clinic, etc. . Couldn't find squat. His office called a few months back, wants 2 start the whole process again, no f'k'n way.
I also now have the 800# for the main Medicare fraud/abuse line. Previously mentioned pulmonary specialist HAS NOW BEEN THREATENED BY ME.