From U.S. News: The Trump administration is not taking any actions to address the epidemic of waste, i.e. unnecessary tests and treatments, in the medical system.
“Health care spending is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent over the next decade. This will result in 20 percent of our gross domestic product – or $1 out of every $5 – going to medical services by 2025, displacing funding for other societal priorities such as education, the environment and national defense.
But expensive big-ticket items alone, like blockbuster cancer drugs or cutting-edge technologies, are not escalating our nation’s medical spending. Far more insidious is something lurking in every hospital in America: waste. Health care waste, primarily in the form of physician-ordered, unneeded tests and treatments, costs approximately $765 billion annually, and comprises 30 percent of total health care spending. Recent actions by the Trump administration will likely only make the problem worse.”
