This policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation describes the sources and potential solutions to reducing the significant waste, or unnecessary and duplicative expenses, in the U.S. health care delivery system. Estimates are that more than a third of annual U.S. health spending may be wasteful. A September 2012 Institute of Medicine report estimated that $690 billion a year may be wasted through provision of unnecessary services, inefficiently delivered services, excessive prices and administrative costs, and missed prevention opportunities. As there is increased attention focused on reducing health care costs, the capacity and will to address this waste will become more and more important.
Ignatius Bau 