May 15, 2025 The WHO released its World Health Report 2025 on May 15, 2025. According to the WHO: "An estimated 1.4 billion more people were living healthier by the end of 2024, surpassing the 1 billion target. The progress in healthier lives was driven by reduction in tobacco use, improved air quality and better access to water, hygiene, and sanitation. But progress towards increased coverage of essential health services and protection from emergencies lagged; only 431 million more people gained access to essential health services without financial hardship, and close to 637 million more people were better protected from…
WHO: Health inequities are shortening lives by decades
May 15, 2025 A new report issued May 6th by the World Health Organization finds that "underlying causes of ill health often stem from factors beyond the health sector, such as lack of quality housing, education and job opportunities."According to the WHO, the new World report on social determinants of health equity shows that "such determinants can be responsible for a dramatic reduction of healthy life expectancy – sometimes by decades – in high- and low-income countries alike. For example, people in the country with the lowest life expectancy will, on average, live 33 years shorter than those born in the…
US Healthcare Spending Hits $4.9 Trillion
December 18, 2024 US healthcare spending continues to grow. According to an article in the journal Health Affairs (Anne B. Martin, Micah Hartman, Benjamin Washington, Aaron Catlin, and The National Health Expenditure Accounts Team, National Health Expenditures In 2023: Faster Growth As Insurance Coverage And Utilization Increased, Health Affairs (2024), doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01375):"National health care spending reached $4.9 trillion in 2023 (or $14,570 per person), increasing 7.5 percent from 2022 (exhibit 1). This rate of growth was faster than in 2021 and 2022, when health care spending increased 4.2 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The lower growth during 2021 and 2022 was affected by the expiration of temporary federal funding…
Doximity Releases 2024 Physician Compensation Report
October 16, 2024 The physician networking, communications, and staffing company Doximity has released its 2024 Physician Compensation Report.According to Doximity, "Doximity found that after several years of modest or declining growth, the average pay for doctors increased nearly 6% in 2023, rebounding from a decline of 2.4% in 2022."The report noted that "In 2023, the gender pay gap for physicians decreased to 23%, marking a slight improvement from the 26% reported in 2022. Despite this progress, the pay gap remains significant, with women physicians earning nearly $102,000 less than men physicians, on average, after controlling for specialty, location, and years…
Baker Institute Report Examines Hospital Prices, Costs, and Profits
Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy has issued a new report on hospital finances. The report, entitled Prices Versus Costs: Unpacking Rising US Hospital Profits, compares "the commercial operating costs, net patient revenue from commercial patients, and commercial operating profits of hospitals with different price levels to examine if higher prices are charged to cover higher costs, or instead to generate higher profits."They concluded:"We find that belonging to the highest inpatient price quartile is associated with 17% higher costs per adjusted discharge and 36% higher commercial revenue per adjusted discharge. These differences result in a 69% higher commercial operating…
Healthcare in the US Becoming Less Affordable
July 23, 2024 The ability of Americans to access affordable healthcare has declined in recent years, according to a new report by Gallup and the nonprofit West Health.According to the report, entitled Tracking Healthcare Affordability and Value: The West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index and Healthcare Value Index:"Cost security among U.S. adults has dipped to its lowest level in 2024, down six points since 2022 to just 55%. This decline is driven primarily by adults aged 50 to 64 (down eight points to 55%) and 65 and older (down eight points to 71%). Younger adults under the age of 50, after…
Sweden By The Numbers
Health System Ranking:WHO World Health Report 2000 Overall Health System Performance (1997): 231Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Health Index (2017): 32Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index (2016): 83Gross Domestic Product (Current Prices) (billion USD) (2018): $551.14Population (2018): 10.1 Million4GDP Per Capita At Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) (USD) (2018): $51,4005Total Current Expenditure On Health (Current Prices, Current PPP) (million USD) (2018): $55,126.15Total Current Expenditure On Health As Portion of GDP (2018): 11%5Total Current Expenditure On Health Per Capita (Current Prices, Current PPP) (USD) (2018): $5,447.15Life Expectancy At Birth (2016): All Genders: 82.4; Male: 80.4; Female: 84.14Life Expectancy At Birth - OECD Average (2016): All…