“Rapid demographic aging has increased concerns about the sustainability of Long-Term Care (LTC) systems. OECD countries have witnessed a rapid increase in the demand for LTC services by vulnerable older people, which is predicted to increase public expenditure for LTC (compared to year 2019) by 41% in the next 20 years, and by 64% by the year 2070 (European Commission 2021). An increasingly common policy response to the rising demand for LTC is “aging-in-place,” an approach that promotes enabling older adults to remain in their community with some degree of independence, supported by home-based services, rather than moving to residential care (Davey et al. 2004). In line with this approach, most European countries have increasingly prioritized the provision of formal home-based care (WHO 2015), with a focus on subsidized services for vulnerable older people. Critical to this policy shift is the assumption that home-based care delays functional decline and improves well-being, thus reducing costs and improving quality of life (Hashiguchi and Llena-Nozal 2020). However, empirical evidence on whether home-based LTC improves outcomes remains limited. Establishing a causal relationship is particularly challenging due to potential endogeneity, driven by reverse causality and omitted variables bias.”

Source: Carrino L, Reinhard E, Avendano M. There Is No Place Like Home: The Impact of Public Home-Based Care on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Older People. Health Economics. 2025 Feb. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4948. PMID: 39977377.

“Our study shows that the net effect of home-based LTC on mental health and quality of life is positive and relevant: older people who receive formal home-based care by virtue of their eligibility for public programmes have better mental health and quality of life than those who are not covered by formal home care services. In particular, our findings suggest that using home-based care leads to a significant and large reduction in depressive symptom scores, and the probability of clinically meaningful depression. In addition, the use of home-based formal care increases quality of life as measured by the CASP scale, particularly by increasing feelings of control over life. We show that a potential mechanism involves the impact of home-based care on loneliness: we estimate that receiving formal home-based care reduces the risk of loneliness by 6.7 percentage points. Potential alternative mechanisms include reduced hospitalization and improved housing conditions. Our results provide evidence that formal home-based care enhances mental well-being and quality of life, potentially through increased feelings of control over life and reduced feelings of loneliness (Berkman et al. 2000; Hu and Wang 2019; Stabile, Laporte, and Coyte 2006; Thomas, Akobundu, and Dosa 2016; Wolff and Agree 2004).

“Estimates of the “excess cost” of depressive disorders in older age (e.g., drugs, nursing and social care) shed some light on the societal welfare effects of home-based care (König, König, and Konnopka 2020). Using data for the UK, McCrone et al. (2008) estimates that the excess costs of depression are $3225 per year for an individual aged 65–74 in 2006. In Germany, Bock et al. (2016) estimates similar excess costs of depression at $2840 per year for an older adult aged 75+ in 2012.⁹“

Source: Carrino L, Reinhard E, Avendano M. There Is No Place Like Home: The Impact of Public Home-Based Care on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Older People. Health Economics. 2025 Feb. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4948. PMID: 39977377.

“Older people are the main users of long-term care due to increased rates of morbidity and disability and declines in functionality as people age. A sustained increase in long-term care demand is therefore a direct result of the profound changes in the population structure in recent decades (Brändström et al., Reference Brändström, Meyer, Modig and Sandström2021; Hu & Ma, Reference Hu and Ma2018; Hu et al., Reference Hu, Read, Wittenberg, Brimblecombe, Rodrigues and Banerjee2022b; Hu et al., Reference Hu, Shin, Han and Rhee2022c; Kemper, Reference Kemper1992; Murphy et al., Reference Murphy, Whelan and Normand2015; Suanet et al., Reference Suanet, Van Groenou and Van Tilburg2012). Population ageing is a global phenomenon. There has been a continued increase in the number as well as the proportion of older people in developed and developing countries alike. It is projected that the number of older people aged 60 and over will increase by 116 per cent between 2017 and 2050, from 962 million to 2,081 million (United Nations, 2019). The demographic structure within the older population is also changing. As life expectancy continues to rise, especially in developing countries, the proportion of very old people (those aged over 85) increases much faster than the older population in general (United Nations, 2019). People of very old age are also the most intensive users of long-term care (Hu, Reference Hu2020).

“Population ageing is driven by decreasing fertility and mortality rates. A decline in fertility rates takes place in the context of (post-)industrialisation where the pursuit of education, employment and other personal life goals leads people to have fewer children, or to have children later in life. In some cases, government policy also plays a decisive role. For example, the One Child policy pursued by the Chinese government in the late 1970s restricted parents to having a single child, and the fertility rate has stayed low ever since (Feng et al., Reference Feng, Liu, Guan and Mor2012). Lower fertility rates do not directly affect demand for long-term care but exert an indirect influence through a reduction in the number of younger adults and the availability of caregivers, which affects supply-induced demand.”

Source: Hu B, Wittenberg R. Historical and future drivers of long-term care demand. In: Cylus J, Wharton G, Carrino L, Ilinca S, Huber M, Barber SL, eds. The Care Dividend: Why and How Countries Should Invest in Long-Term Care. European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Cambridge University Press; 2025:16-47.

“In most European countries, informal care (IC), namely non-professional care aimed at supporting individuals with their basic and instrumental activities of daily living, is the most common type of support provided to older adults (Rocard and Llena-Nozal 2022). However, while informal carers may receive some government and social support—such as training, financial assistance, and respite services—they generally do not enjoy the same level of social protection as those in formal care employment (Triantafillou et al. 2010). Hence, the social value of the IC provided by them is typically “hidden” from the financial long-term care cost estimates.”

Source: Costa-Font J, Vilaplana-Prieto C. The Hidden Value of Adult Informal Care in Europe. Health Economics. 2025 Jan. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4928. PMID: 39888114.

“Informal carers (family, friends, colleagues or neighbours) provide personal care to people with illness, disability, or who are frail and aged [1]. There is a heavy reliance on carers in community settings. In Europe and Australia alone 15–20 % [2] and 13 % [3] of the population respectively are carers.

“Worldwide carers save government and healthcare systems billions of dollars in unpaid care each year [4], defined as “all organizations, people and actions whose primary intent is to promote, restore or maintain health” [5]. Carers experience negative impacts on their own health and wellbeing as a direct result of being in the caring role, which can persist for years after the onset of the caregiving period [6]. Carers have an increased risk of poor physical health [[7], [8], [9], [10], [11]] and mental wellbeing outcomes [[12], [13], [14]]. Poorer outcomes are more prevalent among carers providing a higher level of care [10] and can be a result of having to manage medical tasks and coordinating healthcare appointments [15,16]. While caring often occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, a range of positive and negative experiences are reported by carers internationally, such as an increased closeness to the patient [17], or assuming the caring role due to a sense of guilt and obligation [18].”

Source: Winter N Dr, Haddock R Adj A/Prof. We should care about informal carers: Reforms are needed to improve their health and wellbeing. Health Policy. Published online September 12, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105437

“Frameworks to assess carers’ health and wellbeing exist, yet the intent of them is inconsistent [[30], [31], [32], [33], [34]], and there is a lack of standardization in how and when assessments occur [35,36]. A crucial systemic failure in assessment and data collection of carers’ needs is the ambiguity associated with the terminology ‘carer’. Caring includes tasks that are viewed as a natural part of the relationship between intimate partners [37] or among cultural and ethnic groups [38,39]. As a result, there is low identification with the term ‘carer’ [40] and a large proportions of carers in the community are unseen and inadequately supported. Incomplete data on carers’ characteristics contributes to inequities in the provision of care [[41], [42], [43], [44]].

“The quality and completeness of data available related to carers’ characteristics, health, need for and use of services needs to be strengthened. These data are used to inform the delivery and resourcing of relevant supportive services for carers by the healthcare system. Census data collection can be leveraged to identify carers in the community and their health outcomes. Internationally, the type of census data collected varies [45] and census date intervals are inconsistent [46]. There are minimal opportunities to share current data and learn from similar international healthcare systems. At a minimum, worldwide recommendations are that census should be conducted every 10 years [46], however, this means that data collected are often outdated prior to the next census date. Government are responsible for and dictate the next steps in collecting regular data on carer wellbeing that are not routinely captured elsewhere.”

Source: Winter N Dr, Haddock R Adj A/Prof. We should care about informal carers: Reforms are needed to improve their health and wellbeing. Health Policy. Published online September 12, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105437

“Informal caregiving can be costly to caregivers as they tend to spend less time on paid work and leisure (European Commission 2021), exhibit increased morbidity (Vitaliano, Zhang, and Scanlan 2003), stress (Bugge, Alexander, and Hagen 1999), depressive symptoms (Hajek, Kretzler, and König 2021; Pirraglia et al. 2005), and anxiety (Pirraglia et al. 2005; Sklenaroya et al. 2015). Caregivers generally earn lower wages than non-caregivers (Colombo and Mercier 2012) and tend to retire earlier (Lilly, Laporte, and Coyte 2007; Costa-Font and Vilaplana-Prieto 2023). Furthermore, caregivers’ burden entails opportunity costs, and externalities to family members (Bobinac et al. 2010; Hurley and Mentzakis 2013). However, under certain circumstances, IC can be beneficial to caregivers wellbeing (Brouwer et al. 2005) if they benefit from the experience of providing IC, either in terms of fulfillment of a social norm and personal development, as well as from the strengthening of their emotional ties with the care receiver (Butcher, Holkup, and Buckwalter 2001; Quinn, Clare, and Woods 2012; Joling et al. 2016).”

Source: Costa-Font J, Vilaplana-Prieto C. The Hidden Value of Adult Informal Care in Europe. Health Economics. 2025 Jan. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4928. PMID: 39888114.

“We find evidence of an average 7 percentage point (pp) reduction in caregivers life satisfaction (42pp for co-resident caregiver) resulting from the provision of IC [Informal Care]. Our estimates suggest that the individual short-term compensating surplus (CS) amounts to €13,101 on average (ranging between €28,196 in Spain and €7230 in Sweden). When compared to a country’s GDP per capita, our estimates range from a maximum of 4.2% in France and Spain to a minimum of 0.8% in Germany and 1.3% in Sweden. These estimates are in line with previous studies suggesting that the replacement costs of IC in Europe account for approximately 3%–4% of GDP (Ekman et al. 2021).

“The long-term CS for the period 2007–2020 is estimated at €211,365 (ranging from €350,367 in Spain and €279,499 in France, and €116,646 in Sweden and €148,735 in Germany). These estimates suggest that caregivers may experience caregiving as partially rewarding, or they adapt to caregiving as they engage in providing informal care for longer periods. Lastly, the average CS per hour of care is estimated at €9.55 (ranging from €22.09 per hour in Switzerland and €4.97 per hour in Spain).”

Source: Costa-Font J, Vilaplana-Prieto C. The Hidden Value of Adult Informal Care in Europe. Health Economics. 2025 Jan. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4928. PMID: 39888114.

“The LTC [Long Term Care] sector suffers from shortages of workers, and this is likely to get worse in the future. In three-quarters of OECD countries, growth in the number of LTC workers has been outpaced by the growth in numbers of elderly people between 2011 and 2016. Demand for care will likely keep going up and put more pressure on the LTC sector. The number of people aged over 80 years will climb from over 57 million in 2016 to over 1.2 billion in 2050 in 37 OECD countries. Keeping the current ratio of five LTC workers for every 100 people aged 65 and older across OECD countries would imply that the number of workers in the sector will need to increase by 13.5 million by 2040.”

Source: OECD (2020), Who Cares? Attracting and Retaining Care Workers for the Elderly, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris. doi.org/10.1787/92c0ef68-en.

“LTC [Long Term Care] workers are often dissatisfied with pay, working conditions and career prospects, adding to the physical and mental stress of the job. That, in turn, leads to low recruitment and retention and an overall shortage of workers in elderly care.

“LTC workers earn much less than those working at hospitals in similar occupations. The median wage for LTC workers across European countries was EUR 9 per hour, compared to EUR 14 per hour for hospital workers in broadly similar occupations. There are also more career promotion prospects in hospitals than in the LTC sector.

“Non-standard employment, including part-time and temporary work, is common in the sector. Almost half (45%) of LTC workers in OECD countries work part-time, over twice the share in the economy as a whole. Temporary employment is frequent: almost one in five LTC workers have a temporary contract, compared to just over one in ten in hospitals. Furthermore, jobs are physically and mentally very demanding. For example, half of LTC workers do shift work, which is associated with health risks such as anxiety, burnout and depression.”

Source: OECD (2020), Who Cares? Attracting and Retaining Care Workers for the Elderly, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris. doi.org/10.1787/92c0ef68-en.

“In recent decades, the share of the population aged 65 years and over has nearly doubled on average across OECD countries, increasing from less than 9% in 1960 to more than 17% in 2019. Declining fertility rates and longer life expectancy (see indicator “Life expectancy by sex and education level” in Chapter 3) have meant that older people make up an increasing proportion of the population in OECD countries. Across the 38 OECD member countries, more than 232 million people were aged 65 and over in 2019, including more than 62 million who were at least 80 years old. As ageing represents one of the key risk factors for serious illness or death from COVID‑19, the pandemic has driven home the need to ensure that health systems are prepared to adapt to the changing needs of an older population.

“Across OECD member countries on average, the share of the population aged 65 and over is projected to continue increasing in the coming decades, rising from 17.3% in 2019 to 26.7% by 2050 (Figure 10.1). In five countries (Italy, Portugal, Greece, Japan and Korea), the share of the population aged 65 and over will exceed one‑third by 2050. At the other end of the spectrum, the population aged 65 and over in Israel, Mexico, Australia and Colombia will represent less than 20% of the population in 2050, owing to higher fertility and migration rates.

“While the rise in the population aged 65 and over has been striking across OECD countries, the increase has been particularly rapid among the oldest group – people aged 80 and over. Between 2019 and 2050, the share of the population aged 80 and over will more than double on average across OECD member countries, from 4.6% to 9.8%. At least one in ten people will be 80 and over in nearly half (18) of these countries by 2050, while in five (Portugal, Greece, Italy, Korea and Japan), more than one in eight people will be 80 and over.

“While most OECD partner countries have a younger age structure than many member countries, population ageing will nonetheless occur rapidly in the coming years – sometimes at a faster pace than among member countries. In the People’s Republic of China (China), the share of the population aged 65 and over will increase much more rapidly than in OECD member countries – more than doubling from 11.5% in 2019 to 26.1% in 2050.”

Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.

“Over half of the harm that occurs in LTC is preventable, and over 40% of admissions to hospitals from LTC are avoidable. Reducing and preventing harm in LTC is an end in itself, but there is also an economic case to be made. The total cost of avoidable admissions to hospital due to safety lapses in LTC facilities was almost USD 18 billion in 2016 across OECD countries. This figure is equivalent to 2.5% of all spending on hospital inpatient care or 4.4% of all spending on LTC (de Bienassis, Llena-Nozal and Klazinga, 2020[5]).

“For older people, most guidelines advise complete avoidance (that is, an ideal rate of 0%) of benzodiazepines because of the risk of dizziness, confusion and falls. Even so, benzodiazepines are prescribed for older adults for anxiety and sleep disorders, despite these risks. Long-term use of benzodiazepines can lead to adverse events (overdoses), tolerance, dependence and dose escalation. Long-acting (as opposed to short-acting) benzodiazepines are furthermore discouraged for use in older adults because they take longer for the body to eliminate (OECD, 2017[6]).

“Use of benzodiazepines varies greatly, but – on average – has declined between 2009 and 2019 in OECD countries (Figure 10.10). The largest declines in chronic use have occurred in Iceland, Portugal and Denmark. Korea, Iceland and Denmark experienced the largest decline in use of long-acting benzodiazepines. The wide variation is explained in part by different reimbursement and prescribing policies for benzodiazepines, as well as by differences in disease prevalence and treatment guidelines.”

Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.

“Based on 2010 population estimates – 6.9 billion with 5.04 billion 15 years and over and 1.86 billion under 15 years – and 2004 disability prevalence estimates (World Health Survey and Global Burden of Disease) there were around 785 (15.6%) to 975 (19.4%) million persons 15 years and older living with disability. Of these, around 110 (2.2%) to 190 (3.8%) million experienced significant difficulties in functioning. Including children, over a billion people (or about 15% of the world’s population) were estimated to be living with disability.”

Source: World Report on Disability 2011. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.

“Based on the broad measure of disability used in the SSA Supplement, 27.2 percent, or 85.3 million, of people living in the United States had a disability in 2014 (Table 1). About 17.6 percent, or 55.2 million people, had a severe disability. The survey also collected information on individuals that needed assistance performing certain tasks, such as getting in or out of bed or a chair, due to a long-lasting condition. In 2014, 10.1 percent of people aged 18 and older (24.2 million people) indicated they needed such assistance.”

Source: Taylor, Danielle M., “Americans With Disabilities: 2014,” Current Population Reports, P70-152, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 2018.

“All OECD countries have experienced tremendous gains in life expectancy at age 65 for both men and women in recent decades. On average across OECD countries, life expectancy at age 65 increased by 5.5 years between 1970 and 2017 (Figure 11.3). Four countries (Australia, Finland, Korea, and Japan) enjoyed gains of more than seven years over the period; only one country (Lithuania) experienced an increase in life expectancy at age 65 of less than two years between 1970 and 2017.

“On average across OECD countries, people at age 65 could expect to live a further 19.7 years. Life expectancy at age 65 is more than 2.5 years higher for women than for men of the same age. This gender gap has not changed substantially since 1970, when life expectancy at age 65 was 2.9 years longer for women than men. Life expectancy at age 65 was highest for women in Japan (24.4 years) and for men in Switzerland (20 years). Among OECD countries, life expectancy at age 65 in 2017 was lowest for women in Hungary (18.4 years), and for men in Latvia (14.1 years).

“While all OECD countries experienced gains in life expectancy at age 65 between 1970 and 2017, not all additional years are lived in good health. The number of healthy life years at age 65 varies substantially across OECD countries (Figure 11.4). In Europe, an indicator of disability-free life expectancy known as “healthy life years” is calculated regularly, based on a general question about disability in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. On average across OECD countries participating in the survey, the number of healthy life years at age 65 was 9.6 for women and 9.4 for men – a markedly smaller difference than that of general life expectancy at age 65 between men and women. Healthy life expectancy at age 65 was above 15 years for both men and women in Norway, Sweden and Iceland; for men, this was nearly three years above the next-best performing countries (Ireland and Spain). Healthy life expectancy at 65 was less than five years for both men and women in the Slovak Republic and Latvia. In the Slovak Republic and Latvia, women spend nearly 80% of additional life years in poor health, compared with less than 30% in Norway, Sweden and Iceland.”

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

“Dementia describes a variety of brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, which progressively lead to brain damage and cause a gradual deterioration of a person’s functional capacity and social relations. Despite billions of dollars spent on research into dementia-related disorders, there is still no cure or even substantially disease-modifying treatment for dementia.

“Nearly 20 million people in OECD countries are estimated to have dementia in 2019. If current trends continue, this number will more than double by 2050, reaching nearly 41 million people across OECD countries. Age remains the greatest risk factor for dementia: across the 36 OECD countries, average dementia prevalence rises from 2.3% among people aged 65-69 to nearly 42% among people aged 90 or older. This means that as countries age, the number of people living with dementia will also increase – particularly as the proportion of the population over 80 rises. Already, countries with some of the oldest populations in the OECD – including Japan, Italy, and Germany – also have the highest prevalence of dementia. Across OECD countries on average, 15 people per 1,000 population are estimated to have dementia (Figure 11.9). In seven countries, more than 20 people per 1,000 population are living with a dementia disorder. By 2050, all but three OECD countries (Slovak Republic, Israel and Hungary) will have a dementia prevalence of more than 20 people per 1,000 population, while in four countries (Japan, Italy, Portugal and Spain), more than one in 25 people will be living with dementia.”

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

“As populations across OECD countries continue to age, an increasing number of people will require support from longterm care (LTC) services, including nursing homes and LTC living facilities (see indicator on ‘Recipients of long-term care’). Providing safe care for these patients is a key challenge for OECD health systems, as residents of LTC facilities are more frail and sicker, and present a number of other risk factors for the development of patient safety events, including healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and pressure ulcers (OECD/European Commission, 2013[1]).

“HAIs can lead to significant increases in patient morbidity, mortality and cost for the health system. In the acute care sector, HAIs alone are estimated to make up 3-6% of hospital budgets (Slawomirski et al., 2017[2]). These infections are also generally considered to be preventable through standard prevention and hygiene measures. The most commonly occurring HAIs in LTC facilities include urinary tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, skin and soft tissue infections (Suetens et al., 2018[3]).

“In 2016-17, the average prevalence of HAIs among LTC facility residents in OECD countries was 3.8% (Figure 11.14). This proportion was lowest in Lithuania, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, and Luxembourg (less than 2%), and highest in Denmark, Portugal, Greece and Spain (over 5%).

“The impact of HAIs is increased by the rise of antibioticresistant bacteria, which can lead to infections that are difficult or even impossible to treat. Figure 11.15 shows the proportions of bacteria isolated from LTC residents that are resistant to antibiotics. On average, over one quarter of isolates were resistant to antibiotics. This is nearly equivalent to levels seen in acute care hospitals, where antibiotic resistance is considered a major threat.”

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

“For any given country, there is also substantial variation across the specific domains, which highlights areas for improvement. For instance, while the United States and The Netherlands both scored 60 in the composite index, they varied in their performance across individual domains. The United States scores high on productivity and engagement and cohesion, average on well-being, and low on equity and security. Having the highest productivity and engagement domain score of 83 reflects that older Americans retire later and volunteer more than people in many European countries. On the other hand, The Netherlands scores high on equity, security, and well-being but low on productivity and engagement and cohesion.

“Japan is the highest ranked in well-being and is the world leader in healthy life expectancy, with men and women expected to live another 16.7 y of relatively good health, on average, at the age of 65 y. In comparison, the United States ranks ninth in well-being. The United States ranks 16th out of 18 countries in the equity domain, and this finding is consistent with current research on gaps in health that are related to large socioeconomic differences across individuals in the United States. The Nordic countries rank the highest in the equity domain.

“Social cohesion, neighborhood support, and financial transfers and housing support between generations of family members are resources that may act as a buffer against adverse shocks. The United States ranks fourth among all countries in the cohesion domain. Ireland, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Spain also rank in the top five of all countries.

“The United States (ranked 12th) is in the bottom half of all countries in the security domain, with Spain, The Netherlands, and Italy at the top. Income, pension wealth, public expenditure on long-term care, government debt, and physical safety were measured. In Western Europe, people aged 65 y and older are physically and financially more secure than in the United States.”

Source: Cynthia Chen, Dana P. Goldman, Julie Zissimopoulos, John W. Rowe, and Research Network on an Aging Society. Multidimensional comparison of countries’ adaptation to societal aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2018, 115 (37) 9169-9174; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1806260115.

World Health Systems Facts currently has sections on the US and sixteen other OECD nations. The links below lead directly to national sections on Long-Term Services and Supports:

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  November 7, 2024 Two new reports throw light on the level of charity care actually provided by nonprofit hospitals in the US. As noted in US Nonprofit Hospitals Have Widely Varying Criteria To Decide Who Qualifies For Free And Discounted Charity Care (Luke Messac, Alexander T. Janke, Lisa Herrup Rogers, Imani Fonfield, Jared Walker, Elijah Rushbanks, Nora V. Becker, and Ge Bai, US Nonprofit ...
• Doximity Releases 2024 Physician Compensation Report October 16, 2024
  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 ...
• Commonwealth Fund Releases Newest Installment of its Mirror Mirror Series of National Health System Comparisons September 21, 2024
  September 21, 2024 The Commonwealth Fund has released the newest installment of its Mirror Mirror series, which compares various national health systems with the US. According to Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System: “Key Findings: The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between ...
• Baker Institute Report Examines Hospital Prices, Costs, and Profits September 11, 2024
  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 ...
• Healthcare in the US Becoming Less Affordable July 23, 2024
  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 ...
• NY Times Investigative Series on Pharmacy Benefit Managers and High Prescription Drug Costs June 21, 2024
  June 21, 2024 The New York Times has begun a new series about how pharmacy benefit managers prioritize their own interests at the expense of patients, employers, and the public. Part one, entitled “The Opaque Industry Secretly Inflating Prices for Prescription Drugs,” was published June 21, 2024. According to the Times: “The three largest pharmacy benefit managers, ...
• Journalism Organizations Plan Webinar Series on Business of Healthcare February 14, 2024
  February 14, 2024 The Association of Health Care Journalists and Investigative Reporters & Editors, with the support of the NIHCM Foundation, are hosting a series of free webinars for journalists on the business of healthcare. The series is entitled “Follow the Money: The Business of Health Care.” The first webinar, “Using HospitalFinances.org and other tools to tell money stories,” ...
• US Healthcare Spending in 2022: $4.5 Trillion January 2, 2024
  January 2, 2024 According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (accessed January 2, 2024): “US health care spending grew 4.1 percent to reach $4.5 trillion in 2022, faster than the increase of 3.2 percent in 2021 but much slower than the rate of 10.6 percent in 2020. The growth in 2022 reflected strong ...
• Baker Institute: More Texans Insured Thanks To The ACA November 23, 2023
  November 23, 2023 Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy reports that more Texans have health insurance coverage now thanks to the Affordable Care Act. According to the Institute’s November 14 issue brief, entitled Looking at the Numbers: 10 Years of Data on the Affordable Care Act Reveal Benefits for Texans: “When the ACA was enacted in ...
• Update: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations Moving Forward October 19, 2023
  Negotiations between the federal government and the manufacturers of ten prescription drugs over prices for the Medicare program are moving forward. The American Hospital Association reported on Oct. 3, 2023 (“CMS: Makers of selected drugs agree to participate in Medicare price negotiation”): “The companies that make the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs selected to participate ...
• Medicare and Medicare Advantage October 15, 2023
  Medicare is a complicated system that mixes public and private insurance providers. As reported by the Scripps News Service on Oct. 21, 2022 (“Why Is Medicare So Complicated?”): “By the government’s last count in 2021, 64 million adults were enrolled in Medicare. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple to navigate. The Medicare maze is growing more ...
• Medicare Open Enrollment Season Runs October 15 – December 7 October 15, 2023
  Open enrollment season for Medicare is October 15 through December 7. According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (last accessed Oct. 15, 2023): “Medicare health and drug plans can make changes each year—things like cost, coverage, and what providers and pharmacies are in their networks. October 15 to December 7 is when all ...
• List of Drugs For Which Medicare Will Negotiate Prices Announced September 1, 2023
  September 1, 2023 On August 30, 2023, Kaiser Health News reported (“5 Things to Know About the New Drug Pricing Negotiations”): “The Biden administration has picked the first 10 high-priced prescription drugs subject to federal price negotiations, taking a swipe at the powerful pharmaceutical industry. It marks a major turning point in a long-fought battle to control ...
• Learning From Others June 14, 2023
  June 14, 2023 Professor Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, is the Chief Health Officer of Indiana University. In a guest essay comparing the US health care system with the systems of five other nations that was published June 13, 2023 in the New York Times (“I Studied Five Countries’ Health Care Systems. We Need to Get ...
• Practice Consolidation and Access to Quality Care May 14, 2023
  May 14, 2023 The New York Times reports on a growing trend among healthcare organizations in the US, the impact of which may be of concern for patients and taxpayers. The Times reported on May 8, 2023 (“Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace”) that: “CVS Health, with its sprawling pharmacy business and ownership ...
• Medicaid Re-Enrollment Begins Again April 1, 2023
  US states are restarting yearly Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility reviews. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported on February 22, 2023 (“10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision”): “Primarily due to the continuous enrollment provision, Medicaid enrollment has grown substantially compared to before the pandemic and the uninsured rate has dropped. ...
• The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care February 7, 2023
  February 7, 2023 The journal JAMA published a Viewpoint on Jan. 30, 2023 by Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, entitled Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care. In it, Dr. Berwick contends: “Profit may have its place in motivating innovation and higher quality in health care, as in any industry. But kleptocapitalist behaviors that raise ...
• Oregon Becomes First US State To Guarantee Its Residents Access To Affordable Healthcare January 20, 2023
  January 20, 2023 In the November 2022 general election, Oregon voters narrowly approved Oregon Measure 111, the Right to Healthcare Amendment. The measure amended the state constitution, adding a guarantee of access to affordable healthcare for all Oregon residents. According to Ballotpedia, last accessed Jan. 20, 2023: “Ballot title “The ballot title was as follows:“Amends Constitution: State must ...
• Massive Savings Possible In US Health System October 21, 2021
  October 21, 2021 The management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has issued a new report estimating that administrative changes and efficiencies could save the US health system more than a quarter trillion dollars. As noted in a Viewpoint article published in JAMA on October 20: “The analysis dissected profit and loss statements of individual health care organizations, estimated ...

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated September 26, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.