In this article New Yorker staff writer and surgeon Atul Gawande visits McAllen, TX after learning that Medicare costs in this town are the highest in the country second only to Miami, which has much higher labor and living costs. He speaks with a number of MDs and hospital administrators in town to find that
a) No one here realizes that Medicare costs here are so exorbitantly high
b) Simple overutilization is the most likely reason and
c) Higher healthcare spending does not result in better health.
Links
–Compare some of Gawande’s numbers at the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
–Read some of the news media’s take on Gawande’s article in Factiva. Simply type gawande and mcallen in the search box to see at least six great related articles.
–Gawande’s website