Chart Review - Wasteful Expenditures

Andrew Strohman, Health Care Data Analyst October 11, 2019

A recent Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article estimated that approximately 25 percent of annual health care spending — between $760 billion and $935 billion — constituted wasteful expenditures. Due to health care costs approaching 18 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), this wasteful spending accounts for 4.5 percent of GDP. These monetary values were further broken down into six categories, as shown in the chart below. Excluding administrative complexity, the authors went on to project potential savings of $191 billion to $282 billion for interventions that reduce waste. Based on this information, there are ample opportunities for research to evaluate methods of curbing excess health care costs. Consumers and taxpayers would likely receive the bulk of the savings.

Data obtained from JAMA

https://www.americanactionforum.org/weekly-checkup/whos-making-health-policy/#ixzz63lwmzvLA
Follow @AAF on Twitter