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The Real Reason We Pay So Much for Healthcare
A lengthy New York Times report yesterday detailed just how much more Americans pay for medical services than people in other countries. Often a lot more: almost twice what the Swiss pay for a colonoscopy, three and a half times more than the Dutch for an MRI and five times more than Spaniards for a hip replacement, according to the International Federation of Health Plans.
The high per-unit price of medical services in this country is an open secret, well documented in the health-policy world but largely ignored in the political debate. Rather than rail against high prices, Americans should rail against this: The fixes for those higher prices are clear enough, yet they get almost no consideration from policymakers.
The rash of recent proposals to slow health-care spending have focused on reducing the use of health-care services or shifting those costs to beneficiaries, rather than bringing down per-unit costs. Take the Bowles-Simpson report from December 2010: The largest proposed Medicare savings came from asking the elderly to pay more for their care. Other reports take a similar approach.
Read the full story here: http://bloom.bg/13A1P75
Source: Bloomberg News
AI Meets Medicare: Inside CMS’s WISeR Model With Sanjay Doddamani, MD, MBA, Part 2
August 5th 2025In this second part of his interview with The American Journal of Managed Care®, Sanjay Doddamani, MD, MBA, a former senior advisor to CMMI and founder and CEO of Guidehealth, continues a dialogue on the future of value-based care and the promise—and limits—of AI-enabled innovation, reflecting on challenges like rising Medicare costs and patients’ growing financial burdens.
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Trump Directs Pharma Companies on Cutting Drug Prices Under Most-Favored-Nation Order
July 31st 2025President Donald Trump has sent letters to pharmaceutical companies, aiming to compel them to lower drug prices in the US to match the lowest prices offered in other developed nations, a move that could significantly reduce costs and disrupt the current system of pharmacy benefit managers.
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