Here’s why it is so difficult to control health care costs and why all you hear about consumer involvement has little chance of affecting the major causes of health care spending.
In 2012, United States healthcare expenditures totaled $1.35 trillion, though medical care expenses are predominantly concentrated among a relatively small portion of individuals, according to a recent report by the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
In 2012, the top 1 percent of the population ranked by their healthcare expenses accounted for 22.7 percent of total healthcare expenditures, with an annual mean expenditure of $97,956, according to the MEPS report.
The estimates in the 2014 report were drawn from analyses conducted by MEPS from the Household Component of the Full Year Consolidated Data.
Further findings from the report are listed below.
General findings
The top 5 percent of the population accounted for 50 percent of total expenditure with an annual mean expenditure of $43,058.
The top 10 percent of the population accounted for 66 percent of total expenditures with an annual mean expenditure of $28,468.
The top 50 percent of the population accounted for 97.3 percent of overall healthcare expenditures while the lower 50 percent accounted for only 2.7 percent of the total.
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