Thread: Why Does Health Care in the U.S. Cost So Much?

This is an excellent question we each should ask ourselves every day. My opinion is all of us overuse the health care system and this practice drives up the costs of everyone’s health insurance premiums.

I also believe the reason our heath care costs are high relative to age between persons in China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom is because we, as a Nation, are seriously overweight and this affliction, as weII as too much fat in our diets, leads to all kinds of serious health problems (heart disease, diabetes, colon and pancreatic cancer and internal organ failure) in our later years.

The following discussion will open your eyes and help you understand why all of us pay such an exorbitant cost for the health care we receive in hospitals and clinics in the United States.

Why Does Health Care in the U.S. Cost So Much?

"That’s because 20 percent of patients account for 80 percent of spending, and that 20 percent is made up mostly of the chronically ill."

“Indeed, perhaps the most significant reason Americans are drowning in health care debt may shock you: Americans are getting far too much unnecessary care. Of our total $2.3 trillion health care bill last year, a whopping $500 billion to $700 billion (30%) was spent on treatments, tests, and hospitalizations that did nothing to improve our health. Even worse, new evidence suggests that too much health care may actually be killing us.”

Even as millions aren’t getting treatments they vitally need, a leading medical journalist argues that the main culprit in the soaring cost of American health care is actually overtreatment… and all that extra care is making us very sick.

$500 BILLION: The amount that Americans spend annually on unnecessary care.

30,000: The number of Medicare recipients who die each year as a result of unneeded care.

50%: The portion of surgeries, tests, and procedures that are not backed by scientific evidence.

Consumers aren’t shopping wisely. The moral-hazard argument says that because people don’t pay out of pocket, they use more-expensive health care than necessary. Moral hazard says we go to the doctor when we don’t really need to; we insist on getting a CT scan for a twisted ankle when ice and an Ace bandage will do. Experts will tell you that as many as one in four doctor’s-office visits are “social calls,” and nearly half of emergency room visits are for care that could have been handled in a nonemergency setting. But even this argument doesn’t explain why health care costs so much.

That’s because 20 percent of patients account for 80 percent of spending, and that 20 percent is made up mostly of the chronically ill. These patients are often sick with multiple conditions—such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure—and more than half of the money we devote to caring for them is spent when they are in the hospital. People who are sick enough to be hospitalized are generally too ill to be insisting on certain tests or procedures.

Indeed, perhaps the most significant reason Americans are drowning in health care debt may shock you: Americans are getting far too much unnecessary care. Of our total $2.3 trillion health care bill last year, a whopping $500 billion to $700 billion was spent on treatments, tests, and hospitalizations that did nothing to improve our health. Even worse, new evidence suggests that too much health care may actually be killing us.

According to estimates by Elliott Fisher, M.D., a noted Dartmouth researcher, unnecessary care leads to the deaths of as many as 30,000 Medicare recipients annually.

http://www.newamerica.net/publicatio...t_so_much_7720

Greed, is the primary reason.

IMO everyone is ignoring the real elephant in the room here. Health care costs are greatly outpacing inflation because of:

1. Pharma and medical equipment companies

2. The doctors and hospitals

Health care is NOT a free market.

Several contributing factors.
　
　
The government allows the industry to write the rules. Who's favor do you think they lean.
　
　
There is no competition, and insurance companies has created the environment that allows the industry to overcharge at ridiculously higher rates than a competitive environment would permit.
　
　
People are stupid fat pigs who over eat and eat the wrong kind of foods, full of chemicals/preservatives, steroids/growth hormones, and have been taught to mix foods that are consistently harder to digest, and absorb. This causes more problems that the industry makes billions annually creating unnatural medicines so they can continue to belly up to the trough and gorge themselves in an unnatural manner. Medicines that control blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc... etc... do nothing to cure any problems, just keep the poor habits as the norm.
　
　
And last but not least the majority of the people in the medical field, are there to make money at your expense. Most of the doctors in the last 30 years are ditching the general practitioner field and going only in to specialties, IAW greed steers the industry now, when over 40 years ago most of the people were in it to help people. They are not taught to cure any problems they are taught to treat symptoms, so the situation is prolonged, and the need for medical assistance is compounded right up until the day that their overmedicating, misdiagnosing, and experimenting on you with drugs they get a kickback for prescribing the poisons that finally kills you outright.
　
　
The high costs, accelerates the pricing of everything that is involved as well, from schooling, medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, everybody wants their share too, and at the current rate of about 14% annually costs will continue to rise, at these alarming rates, and if insurance remains the way to pay for everything including a basic office visit, there will be no change in the trends that have created this giant money vacuum.

There are obviously a LOT of reasons why healthcare today is so expensive.

One reason that is generally overlooked and is one of the largest contributors, is the advent of so many new diagnostic, treatment, and procedure options. If you compare now to lets say 1979, a lot has changed. We now have diagnostic tools in common use such as MRI's and Cat Scans that detect major problems earlier and earlier. An explosion of pharmaceutical options exist now that didnt in 1979 etc etc.... The result has been an increase in life expectancy of about 6 years or so, but no one seems to want to focus on that aspect. This improvement comes with a hefty price tag. We can decide to limit costs if we so choose, but do be aware that doing so will severely inhibit new innovation.

Originally Posted by FAW

There are obviously a LOT of reasons why healthcare today is so expensive.

One reason that is generally overlooked and is one of the largest contributors, is the advent of so many new diagnostic, treatment, and procedure options. If you compare now to lets say 1979, a lot has changed. We now have diagnostic tools in common use such as MRI's and Cat Scans that detect major problems earlier and earlier. An explosion of pharmaceutical options exist now that didnt in 1979 etc etc.... The result has been an increase in life expectancy of about 6 years or so, but no one seems to want to focus on that aspect. This improvement comes with a hefty price tag. We can decide to limit costs if we so choose, but do be aware that doing so will severely inhibit new innovation.

You also need to look directly at a government funded agency entering the market and destroying competition.

This is an excellent question we each should ask ourselves every day. My opinion is all of us overuse the health care system and this practice drives up the costs of everyone’s health insurance premiums.

>>>My opinion is that it is the 30% administrative mark-up. "Administrative" is health care industry-speak for CEO salaries and distributions to shareholders.

Originally Posted by Phoebe Bump

>>>My opinion is that it is the 30% administrative mark-up. "Administrative" is health care industry-speak for CEO salaries and distributions to shareholders.

Phoebe......hmmm. For starters. Huge CEO pay comes from wall street, NOT the operating capital from a company. Secondly, stockholder dividends would be paid out of profit, which is calculated AFTER an administrative portion would be accounted for. Im skeptical of the 30% figure, but even if we take that at face value, ceo pay and stockholder dividends would have absolutely zero to do with calculating administrative costs.

Originally Posted by Roon

You also need to look directly at a government funded agency entering the market and destroying competition.

Care to back that up with any facts?

ceo pay and stockholder dividends would have absolutely zero to do with calculating administrative costs.

>>>Depends on your accounting methods. I try to segregate administrative costs and profit in my business, but no matter how you slice it, stockholder dividends and CEO salaries have EVERYTHING to do with the high cost of medical care in this country. Dividends and salaries have as much to do with the cost of health care as alcohol and cotton balls.