The United States economy could be saving about $375 billion annually if it changed its healthcare and insurance process methods to Canada's single-payer system, a recent study shows, as reported by Science Daily.
Researchers pointed to the burdens of confusing medical billing paperwork and insurance-driven regulations as major contributors to that huge cost. They said that of the $471 billion spent throughout the healthcare industry on such matters in 2012, only 20 percent of that was justified spending.
The researchers were physicians and other healthcare workers affiliated with the University of California system, as well as Harvard Medical School, and published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Health Services Research.
"The potential savings of adopting a single-payer system is striking: at least $375 billion annually," James G. Kahn, MD, part of the four-person research team, said. "Such a system would enjoy powerful economies of scale, sharply reduce the burdens of claims processing and obviate the need for marketing, advertising and underwriting expenses. Our nation's patients, our physicians and the U.S. economy all stand to gain from such a shift."
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