Re: quick question

[Michael Pollak <mpollak@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Michael Perelman wrote:

> What is a good source for the share of HMO dollars that goes to care
> rather than profits or overhead?

Just about anything written by Steffie Woolhandler of Physicians for a
National Health Plan (http://www.pnhp.org)

Here's a short one:

http://www.pnhp.org/news/high.pdf

"[F]or-profit HMOs take 19% for overhead, versus 13% for non-profit plans,
3% in the US Medicare program and 1% in Canadian Medicare."  She's got 2
footnotes to go with it.

She also had a great interview with Doug where she summarized an article
she published (I think in the New England Journal of Medicine) that
analyzed and compared the cost structure in lots of great ways:

http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio_1.html#020711

I seem to remember that in that interview she gave astonishing figures for
the range of HMO overhead rates, that they ran from a low of 12% to a high
of 34%.  If it wasn't in here, it was in another interview.

Michael