[cjlars]

If we spend $3.2TR on medicine and roughly 50% of that is 'overspending', as the article suggests. Then we have roughly $1.6TR in systematic inefficiencies. If the misapplication of occupational licensing for doctors are $100BN of that or 1/16th. What, specifically, is the other 15/16?

I think that author makes a good effort to itemize at least one of the components, now we should be asking what the rest are.

[chaostheory]

Could be wrong but I have a feeling that most of the other costs are related to either mitigating or fighting malpractice lawsuits. Do any other countries have a lot of medical malpractice lawsuits besides the US?

[cjlars]

Unlikely. Some quick googling gives an annual cost of $55BN for malpractice. Still, including the above, we're now at 1 / 10 of the overage.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048809/

[nradov]

You would be wrong. We have a natural experiment in that some US states have imposed caps on malpractice damages, yet they have experienced only slight decreases in overall medical costs.

[myhf]

> the misapplication of occupational licensing for doctors are $100BN of that or 1/16th

If you accept the premise that doctors are overpaid by 25%, then that represents $20BN of systematic inefficiency, or 1/80th.