High Costs of Medical Care + Insurance in the U.S

1. High administrative costs

1.1. Errors due to complicated claims submission or billing processes

2. High Physician Fees

2.1. High costs of medical education

3. Defensive Medicine Practices

3.1. High costs of malpractice insurance

4. Rise in cases of chronic diseases such as diabetes

4.1. Increase in high-risk pool

5. Expensive diagnostic equipment and new technologies

5.1. Can lead to more expensive charges when these equipment are used in the treatment process

6. Increased costs of healthcare goods and services

6.1. Less production of "less profitable" drugs such as vaccines and rare disease treatments

6.1.1. Lower availability of these types of drugs and can lead to increase in prices when available

6.2. Decreases access to care for lower income individuals

7. Physician-Induced Demand

7.1. Encourages physicians to over-utilize unnecessary treatments or tests for reimbursement

8. Rising pharmaceutical costs

8.1. Increase in insurance premiums to account for higher drug pricing

9. Fee-For-Service Payment System