The US healthcare system is the most expensive in the world. Such high spending does not necessarily lead to superior outcomes. The deaths of more than a million Americans in the covid pandemic is one evidence of that. One important factor that drives the cost of healthcare in the country is administrative costs due to the mind-boggling complexities of the healthcare system. Administrative costs do not help the patient’s cure or well-being. It involves everything from highly compensated executives in hospitals to care deniers in insurance companies to thousands of people doing the billing, etc. This waste costs the country more than three times from the next spender on administrative costs as shown in the chart below:
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Source: How Does the US Healthcare System Compare to Other Countries, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
