NEWS INSIGHT

Researchers evaluated the prevalence in Medicare of 26 tests and procedures that have been found to offer little or no clinical benefit, and calculated: • There were 21.9 million instances of the 26 low-value treatments during 2009 • 42% of beneficiaries received at least one such service • This cost Medicare $8.5 billion, or 2.7% of overall spending Using more specific definitions of inappropriate treatments, the researchers calculated: • 9.1 million low-value services were provided in 2009 • 25% of beneficiaries received at least one such service • This cost Medicare $1.9 billion, or 0.6%of overall spending Source: "Harvard: Overused Medical Services Cost Medicare Billions," Kaiser Health News/Capsules, May 12, 2014, http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2014/05/harvard-overused-medical-services-cost-medicare-billions/