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re: Health Care Spending In The United States Slows For The First Time In Seven Years
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services) issued a report (the press release states that report will appear in the Jan/Feb edition of Health Affairs but does not provide a link so the link is my guess of where the report will appear) and a news release putting a positive spin on the data.
“Spending growth for prescription drugs decelerated significantly to 10.7 percent, down from 14.9 percent in 2002.” So we only increased spending on prescription drugs by 10.7 percent? I guess that could be seen as positive? To me though increasing expenditures by 10.2 percent seems more like of a problem than a success, though I can’t argue it is less of a problem than the year before. My last post was on prescription drug prices in the USA.
I would agree with the second sentence. Since health care costs once again rose much more quickly than the economy overall we certainly shouldn’t declare victory over “rising health care costs.” Stating it as though declaring victory were even close to an option seems like an odd choice.
And some fairly strait forward data: “Health expenditures in the United States grew 7.7 percent in 2003 to $1.7 trillion, down from a 9.3 percent growth rate in 2002. On a per capita basis, health spending increased by $353 to $5,670. Health spending accounted for 15.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2003, outpacing growth in the overall economy by nearly 3 percentage points.” As Dr. Deming noted decades ago, the United States economy was being severely hampered by excessive health care costs. Since then health care costs have taken an every increasing burden on the economy.
On a per capita basis $5,670, just on health care. 15.3% of GDP. Those are amazingly high figures. The median per capita GDP for a country (according to the CIA world fact book) is $5,600 (Cyprus). That is not the median income on earth, that would be lower. The fact book lists China with a per capita GDP of $5,000 and India with $2,900.
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July 18th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
[...] The healthcare system is in need of improvement: USA Health Care Costs reach 15.3% of GDP - the highest percentage ever. [...]
July 18th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
[...] I posted earlier this year on this topic:USA Health Care Costs reaching 15.3% of GDP - the highest percentage ever. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services release focused on it a different way saying: “HEALTH CARE SPENDING IN THE UNITED STATES SLOWS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVEN YEARS” (I am repeating their use of ALL CAPS). Of all the deadly diseases, excessive medical costs seems to be doing the most critical damage to the country and I see little hope that it won’t keep getting worse. [...]
July 18th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
[...] These types of improvements are needed system wide. As we posted earlier Health Care costs reached a record high percentage of GDP last year (15.3%). This problem continues to grow more than two decades after Deming included the high cost of health care as one of the seven deadly diseases. Despite a ‘“no-layoff policy,’” a key tenet of lean management, staffing trends at Virginia Mason show a decrease in 2003 and 2004, after six years of annual increases in the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs). Using lean principles, staff, providers and patients have continuously improved or redesigned processes to eliminate waste, requiring fewer staff members and less rework, and resulting in better quality. Consequently, as employees retire or leave for other reasons, improved productivity allows for them not to be replaced. [...]
July 23rd, 2006 at 11:15 pm
[...] Overall this is an interesting article. I am sure there are plenty of problems in the VA system - it is huge and complex. However, they may also have valuable ideas for the health care system that is very much in need of improvement. Also see: PBS documentary on improving hospitals. When hospitals were evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, the VA’s patients were the only ones whose medical records could be accessed immediately anywhere in the country. by curiouscat Tags: Management, Innovation, Public Sector, Health care Permalink to: VA Medical Care [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
[...] The article was written in 2003, by 2005 health care spending reached 15.3% of the USA economy. A group of Iowa manufacturing executives has already taken Jimmerson’s recommendation a few steps further: They’re teaming up with their health-care providers, showing them the benefits, educating them on the principles and practices, and helping them to implement lean. “We’re doing this with the hopes that somewhere along the line, we’re going to save some money and that maybe our health-care costs won’t be so astronomical,” says David Speer, director of LeanSigma at Maytag Appliances, Newton, Iowa. [...]
September 26th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
[...] This health care crisis continues to dramatically harm the economy yet attempts to deal with the issue remain much too small. Good news is available, for example: Lean Health Care Works and Going Lean in Health Care. Read the full report. Also see more posts on health care management improvement. [...]
January 10th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
[...] So the rate at which healthcare spending continues to increase is decreasing. That is better than increasing at an increasing rate. However, it is already a huge drag on the economy and the need is for the expenditures to actually decrease [...]