Health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries in parts of the country where per-patient spending is higher are no better than those in other areas where annual spending is only half as much.
You don't get more effective care when you spend more money. The research shows that higher spending in some areas also does not result in fewer medical errors or more patient-centered care.
The study looked at differences in patterns of care in Medicare's more than 300 hospital "referral regions." Earlier work established that spending on Medicare varies widely among regions, even after taking into account the health of the population. For example, Medicare spending per-beneficiary in Miami, Florida in 1996 was $8,414, while per-beneficiary spending in Minneapolis, Minnesota was $3,431.
The study found that doctors in higher-spending areas were no more likely to make sure heart attack patients received recommended medications to prevent a second attack, and no less likely to make other medical errors.
What accounted for the biggest cost differences, the study found, was increased use of "supply sensitive" care, including visits to specialists, hospitalization, and use of intensive care units.
Where there are more specialists, hospital beds, and intensive care units, the study found, they are used more. However, more use did not translate into better outcomes.
If the rest of the country used services at the rate of the areas in the least expensive 10% of regions, the Medicare program could save 29% annually.
Health Affairs February 13, 2002
More evidence that the current federally subsidized health care program is terminally broken. The massive influence and highly disproportionate spending on drugs further complicates the problem.
It is my hope to facilitate medicine's transition to the terminal phase.
The US will spend 1.5 trillion dollars for health care this year.
The vast majority of these funds are just wasted.
You might have thought that most of this money went for hospital care.
Wrong.
Americans have spent more on prescription drugs than hospital care for the last several years. Hundreds of billions are going to drug companies for drugs that only treat symptoms and allow the person to continue to deteriorate without addressing the underlying cause of disease.
Is This Situation Getting Worse Or Better?
Well, overall healthcare costs are rising by 7%, but we are averaging a close to 20% increase in drug spending every year. The US Congress is on the verge of approving a $100 billion bonus to drug companies. Before you know it we will be paying one trillion dollars to the drug companies.
One Trillion Dollars.
That is one thousand billion dollars. The late Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois was fond of talking about Defense Department spending by saying "a billion dollars here and a billion dollars there, and before you know it you are talking about real money."
If you ask me spending one trillion dollars on therapies that rarely solve the problem seems more than a bit extreme. It sure seems like there is more than enough surplus in this amount to more than solve most all of our health care problems.
Additionally, most of the surgeries that are done in the US are expensive and unnecessary thus increasing the cost of health care in the US.
Folks, there is a solution and it is my goal to facilitate that solution. All we need to do is wake up the population to the inexpensive alternative to drugs.
You can do your part by letting all your friends and relatives who are using expensive drug based solutions for their health problems that there are other options that will turn their health around.
The first step would be to encourage them to subscribe to this newsletter which will keep them posted to many of these options. And, more importantly, in the near future the news letter will be able to help identify local qualified health care professionals who can help them implement these strategies.
The next step will be to follow the eating plan.
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