Unflappable at $600-$850 billion healthcare system waste per annum

Sen. Tom Coburn 'unflappably' used Thomson Reuters' "Where Can $700 Billion In Waste Be Cut Annually From the U.S. Healthcare System?" [10/2009] as an authoritative reference; it names the most significant drivers of wasteful healthcare system spending:

1. Unwarranted Use: $250-$325 billion  
2. Fraud and Abuse: $125-$175 billion
3. Lack of Care Coordination: $25-$50 billion
4. Administrative System Inefficiencies: $100-$150 billion
5. Provider Inefficiency and Errors: $75-$100 billion
6. Preventable Conditions and Avoidable Care: $25-$50 billion

One of the main goals in health care reform lies in reducing waste.

Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, 2001; Milstein, 2004

"Now, maybe I have a simplistic mind, but frankly I don't understand why health care and insurance companies keep appearing in the same sentences." (Fisher, W. Truthout  10/25/09)