Here are the top 10 major drivers of healthcare costs as assessed by physicians in The Physicians Foundation's "A Survey of America's Physicians: Practice Patterns and Perspectives."
The survey, published last year, includes responses from more than 13,000 physicians.
1. Defensive medicine: 69.1 percent
2. Aging population: 64.9 percent
3. Cost of pharmaceuticals: 59.1 percent
4. Advances in technology and treatment: 51.2 percent
5. Social conditions such as poverty, violence and illegal immigration: 43.5 percent
6. State and federal insurance mandates: 41.6 percent
7. Lack of price transparency: 40.5 percent
8. Limited patient financial obligations: 39 percent
9. Absence of the free markets: 37.2 percent
10. Fraud: 18 percent
Only 3.8 percent ranked physician fees as a major driver of healthcare costs. Around 17 percent said the Relative Value Update Committee was a major driver, with another 47.8 percent saying it was a moderate cost driver.
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