U.S. 'Not Getting What We Pay For' (Ceci Conolly)

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Many Experts Say Health-Care System Inefficient, Wasteful

November 30, 2008- Talk to the chief executives of America's preeminent health-care institutions, and you might be surprised by what you hear: When it comes to medical care, the United States isn't getting its money's worth. Not even close. {xtypo_quote_right} Better data may also address what Dartmouth College researchers describe as large, "unwarranted" variations in medical spending. Analyzing Medicare payments for patients in the final two years of life, the school's Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice found that similar care -- when adjusted for differences in age, race and diagnoses -- cost as much as 93,000 dollars at the UCLA Medical Center and as little as 55,000 dollars at the Mayo and Cleveland clinics. The national average was nearly 53,000 dollars. With those sorts of variations, the Dartmouth team concluded that as much as 30 percent of medical spending -- or 700 billion dollars -- does nothing to improve care. {/xtypo_quote_right}

"We're not getting what we pay for," says Denis Cortese, president and chief executive of the Mayo Clinic. "It's just that simple."

"Our health-care system is fraught with waste," says Gary Kaplan, chairman of Seattle's cutting-edge Virginia Mason Medical Center. As much as half of the $2.3 trillion spent today does nothing to improve health, he says.

Not only is American health care inefficient and wasteful, says Kaiser Permanente chief executive George Halvorson, much of it is dangerous.

Those harsh assessments illustrate the enormousness of the challenge that awaits President-elect Barack Obama, who campaigned on the promise to trim the average American family's health-care bill by $2,500 a year. Delivering on that pledge will not be easy, particularly at a time when the economic picture continues to worsen.