An earlier post highlighted who benefits from our nation’s dysfunctional healthcare system. Our system costs twice the average of the 12 countries that belong to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In 2022 our cost was $12,555 per capita compared to the average of $6,414 according to The Peterson Foundation. In the second highest nation – Switzerland – cost was $8,049. The blog post demonstrated that we do not get better population health outcomes from the higher prices we pay. In this post, let’s look at four root causes of higher spending on healthcare in the U.S. Any hope of finding a solution requires an understanding of these factors. Our system First, we have a highly fragmented system for paying healthcare providers. Medicare, Medicaid, self-insured employers, insurance companies (paying the healthcare bills for insured individuals), and individuals without insurance each require different…
