Snapshot: Is increased health care spending worth it?

In the matter of musculoskeletal issues, researchers point to an increased reliance on opioids for pain management, which increases overall costs but offers little overall improvement in quality of life.

As the high cost of health care remains a top financial stressor for many Americans, consumers must struggle with the question of whether a particular medical service is worth the price. IT’s becoming an even more pressing question as new innovations come to market, including million-dollar cancer drugs and costly gene therapies.

Recently, a team of researchers examined the relationship between health care outcomes and spending, concluding that the value of medical care increased by $113,000 over the 13-year period between 1999 and 2012, or approximately 1.5% per year. (The researchers used a list of quality-of-life criteria to calculate both increased life expectancy and the value of the additional years lived.) This suggests that, while we’re spending more on health care, we’re also getting better outcomes.