“KPMG’s Healthcare Industry Report–2006 offers information about the current state of the U.S. healthcare industry, recent history, and challenges ahead. We review health status, healthcare quality, and national health expenditures, and offer perspectives and statistics on various components of the healthcare system…Healthcare delivery and financing in the United States is costly, complex, and widely misunderstood. Problems are quickly identified and widely known— high cost, uneven quality, and the uninsured. Solutions to these problems are elusive, and proposed solutions often appear to treat the symptoms rather than theunderlying cause. The development of effective solutions requires a thoroughu nderstanding of the U.S. healthcare system and how it works. The purpose ofthis report is to contribute to that understanding.The U.S. healthcare system has many components. Consumers, employers, physicians, hospitals, other providers, pharmaceutical companies, and govern-ment all play a role. Each wants high-quality healthcare services available to all ata reasonable cost, yet the lack of coordination and inconsistent incentives preventthe attainment of this goal. This report presents information about the U.S. health-care system to provide the reader with the perspective of each component. We believe that the U.S. healthcare system must improve its performance. However, proposed changes must be carefully evaluated to ensure that unintended adverse consequences do not overshadow the intended benefits. This reportbegins with an article that sets forth several areas of focus we believe can yieldsignificant improvements.”