It’s a shocking figure, but that’s how much money the U.S. healthcare system wasted in 2009, according to a just released report from the Institute of Medicine. The report said expensive medical tests, administrative costs, medical fraud and poor prevention contributed to the waste.

The wasted money could provide health insurance coverage for more than 150 million workers, according to the report. And 75,000 deaths might have been prevented if states delivered higher-quality care.

The Institute of Medicine report makes plain that our healthcare system is not getting the best bang for the buck. What we are getting is a raw deal. The U.S. is still spending far more than our First World counterparts on health care, and getting worse outcomes. The fact that our country could have covered 150 million people and prevented needless deaths with that $750 billion is a moral outrage. And the report only covers 2009. How much more money have we squandered in the years before or since? There is nothing fiscally or socially responsible in the way America does health care, and the IOM report proves that.

Sylvia@californiaonecare.org