PNHP's written testimony on Medicare
We already know that regions with higher health care capacity have increased intensity of services but without a commensurate improvement in medical outcomes. Hospitals with greater bed capacity in their intensive care units provide costly and relatively inhumane end-of-life care when less expensive and more compassionate care would be provided in a hospice environment. Physician owned specialty hospitals and medical group owned imaging systems significantly increase capacity and the level of services although there is negligible data available to demonstrate improved outcomes.
Other nations have demonstrated that planning and capital budgeting of capacity can prevent excessive utilization while ensuring adequate capacity to prevent unnecessary queues. The 15.5% of our Gross Domestic Product that we are currently spending on health care is more than enough to ensure appropriate capacity plus fund the operating expenses of our system, with the proviso that we do not waste resources on some of the current excesses of our system. Although health care planning declined after prior efforts, the current level of spending has reached a threshold that now makes it imperative.
The administrative costs of private health plans are significantly greater than those of public programs such as Medicare. But an even greater problem is the profound administrative burden placed on our health care delivery system by our fragmented system of a great multitude of private plans, large public programs, and, for some, no programs at all. In 2003 numbers, an estimated $286 billion in these administrative costs could be recovered and utilized for the deficiencies in health care coverage today. Eliminating administrative waste must be a part of our solution to rising costs.