The admistrative costs for Medicare are much lower.
Most sources estimate 2%-3%. Some much higher but I don't think anyone says they're close to the private insurance average.
All that said, I’m not talking about the administrative costs of running Medicare itself. I’m talking about the administrative costs that are built into the care at hospitals and clinics. This has nothing to do with the administrative costs at the level of the federal government in running Medicare.
What I’m talking about is the percentage of each health care dollar sent to any hospital or clinic that goes to administrative costs vs patient care at that facility. The administrative costs are ‘built in’ to the bill each patient receives. When you look at an itemized list of costs from any health care facility, these figures are not based on actual itemized costs. They are prorated, and incorporate lots of things that don’t show up on that itemized list - including the administrative costs. It doesn’t matter whether Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance pays. The administrative costs at each hospital and clinic are what they are, independent of the payer. It’s very difficult to get administrators to cut their own numbers, unless the third party payers (no matter who they are) start demanding that the hospitals cut their administrative expenditures.