quarta-feira, fevereiro 6

USHealthcare expenditures


Rose 6.7% in 2006
$2.1 trillion, or more than $7,000 for every American man, woman, and child.1 Medicare costs jumped a record 18.7%, driven by the new privatized drug benefit. Total health care spending, now amounting to 16% of the gross domestic product, is projected to reach 20% in just 7 years.
link
The extreme failure of the United States to contain medical costs results primarily from our unique, pervasive commercialization. The dominance of for-profit insurance and pharmaceutical companies, a new wave of investorowned specialty hospitals, and profit-maximizing behavior even by nonprofit players raise costs and distort resource allocation.
nejm, february 7, 2008