Spending Doesn`t Equal Improved Outcomes
The Congressional Budget Office estimates
that about 1/3rd of the $2.2 trillion spent on health
care could be saved.
The CBO found that there was basically no relationship
between a quality of care measure and the total spending.
Then CBO Director Peter Orszag said, `roughly $700
billion each year goes to health care spending that cannot
be shown to improve health outcomes.
Orszag cites cost differences between the Mayo Clinic
and UCLA Medical Center. Costs per Medicare beneficiary
during their last six months of life at the Mayo Clinic
were $26,000 while the cost at the UCLA Medical Center
was almost twice that amount.
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