The U.S. spent $3.4 trillion on medical care in 2016, with 5 percent of Americans paying more than 50 percent of all healthcare expenditures, according to The Atlantic.
Within the 5 percent, most patients have one or more chronic illnesses, but The Atlantic’s analysis found that a substantial portion of them did not. While almost half of these patients were older than 65, 20 percent were younger than 45. On the whole, the majority of these patients have robust health insurance coverage that allows them to access expensive care options.
The authors of the study cite Americans’ eagerness to receive care — even when it may not be medically necessary — as the reason for such inflated expenditures. One-third of Americans have a surgery in the last month of their life, with families spending on any available care even when it may not be able to make a significant difference, according to the report.
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