Emma Wager, Shameek Rakshit, and Cynthia Cox at the website of The Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF:
This brief examines the drivers of health spending and differences between the U.S. and its peers – other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations that are similarly large and wealthy. In 2021, the U.S. spent nearly twice as much per capita on health as these comparable countries did. Most of the additional dollars the U.S. spends on health go to providers for inpatient and outpatient care. The U.S. also spends more on administrative costs, and significantly less on long-term care.
Though spending is higher in the U.S., there is little evidence that this gap is driven by higher utilization or higher quality of care. In addition to having generally worse health outcomes than peer countries, people in the U.S. are less likely to see a doctor, have a long hospital stay, and be able to make a prompt appointment for medical care. The U.S. also has fewer physicians per capita than other countries, making access to care more difficult in some areas.
More here.
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