For years, we’ve heard that the United States spends more on healthcare than any other country, and yet it lags in terms of quality of care.
Health spending in the United States was nearly $2.6 trillion in 2010, 10 times the $256 billion spent in 1980. The Institute of Medicine estimates that in 2009, the nation spent $210 billion on unnecessary medical services.
This means that the United States spends about $8,000 per-person annually on healthcare, about 50 percent more than Norway and Switzerland. In the U.S., hospital stays are far more expensive than in other countries, averaging $18,000 per-discharge, compared with less than $10,000 in Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, France and Germany.
Excess Healthcare Spending
- Unnecessary Services = $210 billion
- Inefficiently Delivered Services = $130 billion
- Excess Administrative Costs = $190 billion
- Prices that are Too High = $105 billion
- Missed Prevention Opportunities = $55 billion
- Fraud = $75 billion
