According to Revcycle Intelligence, administrative expenditures for healthcare were over $812 billion in 2017, accounting for over one-third of costs, according to this study by the Annals of Internal Medicine. 

The high administrative costs were attributed to inefficiencies in the multi-payer system, siting that Canada spent about half that on administrative costs.

Administrative spending has been on the rise since 1970.

  • Payers represented 9.6 percent of total expenditures by insurers and other third-party payers and 7.9 percent of national health expenditures.
  • Hospitals accounted for 26.6 percent.
  • Physician offices administrative costs also increased to over $169,000 for each physician.
  • US nursing homes came in at 26.7 percent.

Read the full article here.