Health Care Realities

Health Care in US

• Cost up to 17% of GDP - @$2.8T in 2012, +2x as % of GDP in 35 yrs.
• Waste = 27% of Spend - $765B of healthcare spend estimated from excess costs: $210B = unnecessary services; $190B = excess administrative; $55B = missed prevention opportunities; $310B = inefficient delivery of care / fraud / inflated prices (2009)
• Individual Cost Rising - >25% of family income likely to go to healthcare spending in 2015E vs. 18% in 2005 ... top 5% healthcare consumers (most with multiple chronic illnesses) spent 50% of healthcare dollars (2009)  > 50% of personal bankruptcies driven by healthcare costs
• Chronic Conditions = +75% of Spend - Most costly = cancer / diabetes / heart disease / hypertension / stroke   1 in 2 Americans has at least 1 chronic condition, 1 in 4 has 2+   32% of Americans obese in 2008, up from 15% in 1990
• Behavior = Root Cause of Many Health Problems - Health risk behaviors cause chronic diseases. 52% of adults did not meet recommendations of physical activity (2011)   50% of those with chronic conditions not compliant with taking medicine to manage disease = $100B on avoidable hospitalizations (2010)

* Source: KPCB

Canadian Healthcare

In Canada, we have 'free' medicare? Doctors, nurses, hospital staff don't work for free and hospitals cost money to build. We have government funded medicare (except for teeth, eyes, back, etc). It is paid for by taxpayers. Per capita, our costs/statistics are probably similar to US.

Is it time to talk about cutting waste, prevention, exercise and supplementation?