title: The cost of health insurance administration in California: estimates for insurers, physicians, and hospitals.
abstract: Administrative costs account for 25 percent of health care spending, but little is known about the portion attributable to billing and insurance-related (BIR) functions. We estimated BIR for hospital and physician care in California. Data for physician practices came from a mail survey and interviews; for hospitals, from regulatory reporting; and for private insurers, from a consulting company. Private insurers spend 9.9 percent of revenue on administration and 8 percent on BIR. Physician offices spend 27 percent and 14 percent, and hospitals, 21 percent and 7-11 percent, respectively. Overall, BIR represents 20-22 percent of privately insured spending in California acute care settings.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS), University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), USA. jgkahn@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kronick
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kreger
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Gans
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003625:Data Collection; D006123:Group Practice / Q000191:economics*; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000191:economics*; D007348:Insurance, Health