> Citation needed. Probably traces back to this which is just hospital costs but I think maybe even worse for smaller practices: A 1999 report found that afte

> Citation needed. Probably traces back to this which is just hospital costs but I think maybe even worse for smaller practices: A 1999 report found that after exclusions, administration accounted for 31.0% of healthcare expenditures in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_healthcare_systems_in_Canada_and_the_United_States#Price_of_health_care_and_administration_overheads https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_healthcare_s... The study: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa022033 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa022033 > Just looking up health insurance profits It wouldn't show up in profits as sibling mentions. I've seen slightly lower but more recent numbers for hospital admin in the US. Not all of this is 'medical billing' but the majority is (look at the Canadian numbers) and you also have to account for the portion that shows up in the insurer's admin as well (~12% US vs ~3% Canada). There are also substantial admin costs soaked by employers and the subscribers in the US as well although technically not 'medical billing' either.