More Health Spending Not Yielding Value
Excerpt from OVERDOSE: Your Health, My Money by John Reynolds & Pierce McNally
Health spending as a share of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has climbed steadily over the past half-century. Today it constitutes 18 percent of GDP, up from 14 percent in 2000 and 5 percent in 1960, and we are well on our way to 21 percent by 2023, based on current projections. This increased dedication of economic resources to the health sector, however, is not yielding commensurate value in terms of improving population health or patients’ experiences with care.
On average, the U.S. spends twice as much on healthcare per capita, and 50 percent more as a share of GDP as other industrialized nations do. Yet we fail to reap the benefits of longer lives, lower infant mortality, universal access, and quality of care realized by many other high-income countries. There is broad evidence, as well, that much of that excess spending is wasteful. Stabilizing health spending and targeting it in ways that ensure access to care and improve health outcomes would free up billions of dollars annually for critically needed economic and social investments – both public and private – as well as higher wages for workers.