4 ms·

One word answer for the rising cost of healthcare in the US: administrators. [1] [1] https://fee.org/articles/the-chart-that-could-undo-the-us-healthcare-syste

One word answer for the rising cost of healthcare in the US: administrators. [1] [1] https://fee.org/articles/the-chart-that-could-undo-the-us-healthcare-system/ https://fee.org/articles/the-chart-that-could-undo-the-us-he...

ceejayoz 9y ago
It'll require more than a one-word answer to explain why that Koch-affiliated (https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/educational-programs/partner-organizations/ https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/educational-programs/pa...) libertarian think-tank didn't think to chart other rising healthcare costs, like the costs of prescription drugs. Administrator salaries don't seem to explain this: https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ASPE1.png https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ASPE1.pn... Nor this: http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/556494646da8110d29ee93ba-800-1126/screen%20shot%202015-05-26%20at%2011.39.39%20am.png http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/556494646da8110d29e... This sort of thing probably doesn't help, either: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/30/drug-companies-flooded-west-virginia-town-2900-with-20-8m-pain-pills.html http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/30/drug-companies-flooded-...
- refurb 9y ago
  The growth in drug expenditures has been reasonably close to inflation over the last decade. One could argue drugs cost too much, but you can't argue they are a major reason for soaring healthcare costs.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    It has been well over inflation since the 1970s except 2010-2012, according to https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/recent-forecasted-trends-prescription-drug-spending/#item-growth-prescription-spending-slowed-2016-increasing-rapidly-2014-2015_2017 https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/recent-.... https://www.statista.com/statistics/184914/prescription-drug-expenditures-in-the-us-since-1960/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/184914/prescription-drug... says we've gone from $121B/year in 2000 to 360B/year in 2017.
pliny 9y ago
According to that chart there were 1-2 years in the 90s where the headcount of health care bureaucracy quadrupled, but the trendline for price did not change at all (maybe the smoothing is too aggressive? I couldn't find the source data). How do you conclude that the problem is administrators if an increase of 300% in # of admin doesn't produce a proportional change in the price?
- refurb 9y ago
  That article is a terrible oversimplification of the issue. As you said, the two trend lines of number of administrators and cost aren't even correlated.

ceejayoz 9y ago

It'll require more than a one-word answer to explain why that Koch-affiliated (https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/educational-programs/partner-organizations/ https://www.charleskochinstitute.org/educational-programs/pa...) libertarian think-tank didn't think to chart other rising healthcare costs, like the costs of prescription drugs. Administrator salaries don't seem to explain this: https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ASPE1.png https://www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ASPE1.pn... Nor this: http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/556494646da8110d29ee93ba-800-1126/screen%20shot%202015-05-26%20at%2011.39.39%20am.png http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/556494646da8110d29e... This sort of thing probably doesn't help, either: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/30/drug-companies-flooded-west-virginia-town-2900-with-20-8m-pain-pills.html http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/30/drug-companies-flooded-...

refurb 9y ago
The growth in drug expenditures has been reasonably close to inflation over the last decade. One could argue drugs cost too much, but you can't argue they are a major reason for soaring healthcare costs.
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  It has been well over inflation since the 1970s except 2010-2012, according to https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/recent-forecasted-trends-prescription-drug-spending/#item-growth-prescription-spending-slowed-2016-increasing-rapidly-2014-2015_2017 https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/recent-.... https://www.statista.com/statistics/184914/prescription-drug-expenditures-in-the-us-since-1960/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/184914/prescription-drug... says we've gone from $121B/year in 2000 to 360B/year in 2017.

pliny 9y ago

According to that chart there were 1-2 years in the 90s where the headcount of health care bureaucracy quadrupled, but the trendline for price did not change at all (maybe the smoothing is too aggressive? I couldn't find the source data). How do you conclude that the problem is administrators if an increase of 300% in # of admin doesn't produce a proportional change in the price?

refurb 9y ago
That article is a terrible oversimplification of the issue. As you said, the two trend lines of number of administrators and cost aren't even correlated.