It's no secret the United States spends more on its healthcare system on a gross domestic product basis than most other industrialized nations, and it may be helpful to look at the causes of that spending in order to curtail it, according to a report from the Bipartisan Policy Center (pdf).
Former Sen. Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell founded the BPC in 2007, and the BPC staff completed this paper to provide a basic overview of the drivers of healthcare cost growth and a starting point for healthcare cost containment.
According to the report, there are 13 main drivers of healthcare spending.
1. Fee-for-service reimbursement.
2. Fragmentation in care delivery.
3. Administrative burden on providers, payors and patients.
4. Population aging, rising rates of chronic disease and co-morbidities, and lifestyle factors and personal health choices.
5. Advances in medical technology.
6. Tax treatment of health insurance.
7. Health insurance benefit design.
8. Lack of transparency about the cost and quality of healthcare, compounded by limited data, to inform consumer choice.
9. Cultural biases that influence care utilization.
10. Changing trends in healthcare market consolidation and competition for providers and insurers.
11. High unit prices of medical services.
12. The healthcare legal and regulatory environment, including current medical malpractice and fraud and abuse laws.
13. Structure and supply of the health professional workforce, including the scope of practice restrictions, trends in clinical specialization and patient access to providers.
Former Sen. Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell founded the BPC in 2007, and the BPC staff completed this paper to provide a basic overview of the drivers of healthcare cost growth and a starting point for healthcare cost containment.
According to the report, there are 13 main drivers of healthcare spending.
1. Fee-for-service reimbursement.
2. Fragmentation in care delivery.
3. Administrative burden on providers, payors and patients.
4. Population aging, rising rates of chronic disease and co-morbidities, and lifestyle factors and personal health choices.
5. Advances in medical technology.
6. Tax treatment of health insurance.
7. Health insurance benefit design.
8. Lack of transparency about the cost and quality of healthcare, compounded by limited data, to inform consumer choice.
9. Cultural biases that influence care utilization.
10. Changing trends in healthcare market consolidation and competition for providers and insurers.
11. High unit prices of medical services.
12. The healthcare legal and regulatory environment, including current medical malpractice and fraud and abuse laws.
13. Structure and supply of the health professional workforce, including the scope of practice restrictions, trends in clinical specialization and patient access to providers.
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