Health affairs
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Comparative Study
Health spending in OECD countries: obtaining value per dollar.
In 2005 the United States spent $6,401 per capita on health care-more than double the per capita spending in the median Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country. Between 1970 and 2005, the United States had the largest increase (8.3 percent) in the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to health care among all OECD countries. ⋯ S. population in 2005. The United States was equally likely to be in the top and bottom halves for sixteen quality measures compiled by the OECD.
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Sophisticated private equity investors in health services provide venture capital for early-stage companies, growth capital for mid-stage companies, and equity capital for buyouts of mid-stage and mature companies. They pursue opportunities in provider sectors that are large and have a stable reimbursement environment, such as acute care services; sectors with room to execute consolidation strategies, such as labs; alternative-site sectors, such as "storefront" medicine; and clinical services, such as behavioral health, that are subject to profitably increasing quality and lowering costs. The innovations created through private equity investments could challenge established health services organizations.
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People uninsured for any part of 2008 spend about $30 billion out of pocket and receive approximately $56 billion in uncompensated care while uninsured. Government programs finance about 75 percent of uncompensated care. ⋯ The increase represents 5 percent of current national health spending and 0.8 percent of gross domestic product. However, it is neither the cost of a specific plan nor necessarily the same as the government's costs, which could be higher, depending on plans' financing structures and the extent of crowd-out.