Healthcare 2015 & U.S. Health Plans: New Roles, New Competencies

October 2007 "The environment in which U.S. health plans operate is fundamentally changing as the health care system struggles to address ever increasing cost, quality and access pressures. U.S. health care expenditures per capita are 2.3 times higher than that of other developed countries1 and are projected to increase 83% over the next ten years. Despite this spending, there are quality concerns. For example, medical errors cause between 48,000 and 98,000 patient deaths and medication errors cost over $3.5 billion annually. There are also significant access issues as 47.0 million Americans are uninsured . . .