Overseeing the business of medicine is big business. Per capita annual spending in the U.S. on health care administration is $606, more than double that of France, which has the next highest rate among industrialized nations.

The base pay of insurance executives, hospital executives and even hospital administrators often far outstrips doctors’ salaries, according to an analysis performed for The New York Times by Compdata Surveys: $584,000 on average for an insurance chief executive officer, $386,000 for a hospital C.E.O. and $237,000 for a hospital administrator, compared with $306,000 for a surgeon and $185,000 for a general doctor. Administrative costs make up 20 to 30 percent of the United States health care bill, far higher than in any other country. Read more…