A recent study published in JAMA on Waste in the U.S. Health Care System shined a light on what we’ve known for years: the healthcare system in America is broken. By their estimates, nearly 30 percent of healthcare spending is wasteful. When you break down that statistic into dollars, it’s a staggering $760 billion annually.

The top three offenders were the failure of care delivery at $102 to $166 billion, pricing failure at $231 to $240 billion, and administrative costs at an estimated $266 billion wasted annually. While the study predicted interventions in the most wasteful categories could save up to $282 billion per year, they excluded solutions to mitigate administrative costs.

Ultimately, these administrative expenses will be passed on to the people in need of healthcare within a system many already can’t afford. With an estimated $500 billion being lost annually due to out-of-control pricing and administrative costs, what can be done to stop the bleeding? 

While there are many theories on how to solve inefficient and overpriced healthcare, many thought leaders are disrupting the status quo by implementing direct primary care (DPC) to cap employer healthcare expenses. A couple hallmarks of this monthly healthcare membership include eliminating administrative fees for primary and urgent care and containing the exorbitant cost of shock claims by detecting, treating, and managing chronic illnesses before they become serious. The model is an alternative gap solution to high deductibles for services covered by health insurance, and a cost-containment feature for the rising cost of claims filed against employers’ insurance plans.

For more information on how to make healthcare more affordable, contact Healthcare2U – the nation’s fastest-growing integrated direct primary care organization.