Excess Medical Care Spending

The Categories, Magnitude, and Opportunity Costs of Wasteful Spending in the United States

Bibliographic Data

ID11033725
AuthorsMatthew Speer (0000-0003-1792-9011, Matthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.), J Mac McCullough (0000-0002-0070-4943, Matthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.), Jonathan E Fielding (Matthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.), Elinore Faustino (Matthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.), Steven M Teutsch (0000-0002-2640-3866, Matthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.)
Year2020
Volume110
Issue12
Pages1743-1748
Publication date2020-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2020.305865
PMID33058700
OpenAlexW3092742636
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited17

Landmark reports from reputable sources have concluded that the United States wastes hundreds of billions of dollars every year on medical care that does not improve health outcomes. While there is widespread agreement over how wasteful medical care spending is defined, there is no consensus on its magnitude or categories. A shared understanding of the magnitude and components of the issue may aid in systematically reducing wasteful spending and creating opportunities for these funds to improve public health. To this end, we performed a review and crosswalk analysis of the literature to retrieve comprehensive estimates of wasteful medical care spending. We abstracted each source’s definitions, categories of waste, and associated dollar amounts. We synthesized and reclassified waste into 6 categories: clinical inefficiencies, missed prevention opportunities, overuse, administrative waste, excessive prices, and fraud and abuse. Aggregate estimates of waste varied from $600 billion to more than $1.9 trillion per year, or roughly $1800 to $5700 per person per year. Wider recognition by public health stakeholders of the human and economic costs of medical waste has the potential to catalyze health system transformation

Actuarial science · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Family medicine · Health care · Health insurance · Health spending · Liberian dollar · Medicaid · Medical care · Public economics · Public health · Finance · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Healthcare cost, quality, practices · Healthcare Policy and Management · Medicine

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