McAllen Revisited: Tailored Solutions to High Spending Are Needed
In a<em> New Yorker</em> article this week, Atul Gawande revisits McAllen, Texas. In 2009, Gawande pointed out that Medicare spent about $7,000 more per person annually than the national average in McAllen, sparking a flurry of activity to figure out what was behind the high spending and ultimately leading to efforts that dramatically reduced it. <br /><br />
In a post on The Commonwealth Fund Blog published today, Dominique Hall, of Partners Continuing Care Networks, and The Commonwealth Fund’s Mark Zezza describe research conducted by Fund grantees at the University of Texas, School of Public Health that identified the major drivers of high spending in McAllen and throughout Texas. The research shows private and public spending may be driven by different causes and will require different policy solutions.