Doctors in the United States spend almost four times more on health insurance administrative costs than their neighbors up north, according to new data.
Researchers from Cornell University and the University of Toronto found per-physician costs in the Unites States averaged $82,975 each year, while Ontario-based doctors averaged $22,205. The difference is primarily attributed to Canada's single-payer health care system, which researchers say is simpler.
Canadian physicians follow a single set of rules while U.S. doctors grapple with different sets of regulations, procedures and forms mandated by each health insurance plan or payer. Though American doctors spend only about one hour more each week personally interacting with health plans than Canadian doctors do, it's a different burden here. Nurses and other medical staff in the United States spend 20.6 hours per physician per week on administrative duties; their Canadian counterparts spend only 2.5 hours.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
