Close to $1T in Medical Waste, Mostly Bureaucratic

Estimated waste in the United States health care system ranged from $760 billion to $935 billion annually, or about 25% of total health care spending, according to an analysis published in JAMA.

Administrative complexity was the single largest culprit, with a predicted $265.6 billion of waste. Despite this, no studies that focused on interventions targeting administrative complexity were found.

Pricing failure was responsible for $230.7 billion to $240.5 billion of waste.

Failure of care delivery was responsible for $102.4 billion to $165.7 billion of waste, and interventions in this area could saved $44.4 billion to $93.3 billion.

Overtreatment and low-value care were responsible for $75.7 billion to $101.2 billion of waste. Fraud and abuse were responsible for $58.5 billion to $83.9 billion in waste. Failure of care coordination was responsible for $27.2 billion to $78.2 billion in waste.

Altogether, the researchers said waste reduction interventions could save a minimum of between $191 billion to and $282 billion annually.

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