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In <1993Jan07.183331.2421@ssc.com> fyl@ssc.com (Phil Hughes) writes:

>Add up the two costs above and you get numbers around 25% of the
>cost of "health care".  In other words, for every $1 you spend in
>health care, $.25 goes to processing paperwork that has nothing to
>do with the actual care; just the bill.

The following table gives a breakdown of healthcare
expenditures in 1970 and 1990.  It's taken from the 1992
Statistical Abstract, No.137, National Healthcare
Expenditures by Object, 1970 to 1990.

                                         1970   1990
                                           %      % 
Personal services & supplies
 Hospital Care                           37.6   38.4
 Pysician's services                     18.3   18.9
 Dentist's services                       6.3    5.1
 Other professional services              2.0    4.7
 Home health care                         0.2    1.0
 Drugs & other nondurables               11.8    8.2
 Vision products & other durables         2.7    1.8
 Nursing home care                        6.5    8.0
 Other health services                    1.8    1.7
Net insurance & administration costs      3.7    5.8
Gov't public health activities            2.6    1.9
Medical facilities construction           4.5    1.6

Spent by
 Consumers                               56.9   53.0
 Government                              37.2   42.4
 Other                                    5.9    4.6


Obviously, some of the paperwork costs end up in the hospital and 
professional services, but without a reliable reference I'd be 
hesitant to accept a 25% paperwork burden from the multiple payer 
system.  Not that I consider the present system efficient -- far 
from it -- just that there are so many other expenses involved 
besides paperwork.  
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