More than a third of health care dollars are spent on overhead and administrative fees such as billing, advertising, and bonuses. This is a big reason for the large expenses seen by
Americans in U.S. hospitals. Inside the hospitals the unnecessary tests need to be reduced.
This stems from the worry of malpractice suits, so malpractice reform is another area of discussion, but in general U.S. physicians should be taught more cost-effective methods of treatment. Finally, drug costs need to be controlled. Drug companies presently can charge whatever they want, and over half of their profits are spent on advertisements. As a result people stop taking their expensive drugs, which leads to more visits and hospitalizations further increasing health care cost. All of this show that health care in America is a business. Medicine needs to switch to a more preventative standpoint which can be done with more primary physicians.
Dalen, James E. “We Can Reduce US Health Care Costs.” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 123, no. 3, 1 Mar. 2010, pp. 193–194., doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.12.011.