Posted On: May 20, 2009, 8:20 pm CDT

Posted By: sinne

I am no expert but here is an excerpt from a report in a Mckinsey Consulting journal that puts the costs in perspective.... "At 17 percent of GDP, US costs are about 70 percent higher than those of our developed global competitors. The costs that employers incur for providing health benefits must also be added to this overhead. Physicians and hospitals are paid through many different insurance policies, each with its own fee levels, benefit exclusions, and rules, adding to the provider's administrative burden. The Johns Hopkins health system, for example, deals with about 700 distinct insurance carriers, each with its own rules. The Duke University health system employs close to 900 billing clerks. The administrative burden shouldered by American providers is greater by far than that in any other country. Finally, one should include in administrative costs the value of the time patients must devote to claims processing, a good part of which in the United States is still paper based. Most other nations now have fully electronic payment systems."