How one US state saved $240 million in health care spending

Investment in primary care results in savings in overall health care spending. This has been empirically proven in the state of Oregon. Current innovation in Oregon provides a real world example that can be studied by policy makers, insurers, health care organizations, and consumers for reform and health systems improvement advocacy. After all, if someone has identified what is effective, why reinvent the wheel?

Health care spending in the United States in 2016 was $3.4 trillion, or 17.8% of GDP. By the year 2025, spending in the US is expected to reach 19.9% of GDP. This cost trajectory is unsustainable. Furthermore, it is ineffective. What are we getting in return for spending more money on health care than any other developed nation in the world? Perhaps not much. Though the United States spends more money on health care services than any other country, our health outcomes leave much to be desired. Management of diabetes, asthma, and safety during childbirth in the US is among the worst in the world. Whatever is being done is obviously broken. And, continued status quo thinking, and the recycling of failed experiments, is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while it sinks.