Why is health care so expensive? What can be done to fix it?

Question

I don't know if a national health system or gov't subsidized insurance is the answer, but health care costs are insane! I need health insurance, and it is going to cost me almost $200 a month!!! There are cheaper ones, but the co-pays are so high, I may as well not buy those. I'm 25 and a non-smoker, it should not cost that much. Why does it cost $10000 to fix a broken arm? Ridiculous.

Answer 1

There are many reasons, and they do boil down to greed.

There is a whole industry of lawyers throughout the medical world, a vast overhead (upwards of 30% administrative costs), and the fact that many peoples' first avenue of treatment is the vastly overpriced emergency room, because that's the only place they can't turn you away for inability to pay. The upshot is that the sore throat that could have been treated for fifteen bucks worth of generic drugs at a free clinic (if there were any) all too often turns into the $20,000 case of pneumonia at public expense.

Answer 2

Why is it expensive? Because medicine and treatment for various things are expensive both out of greed and just plain cost.

What could be done about it? It would take a multi-way approach.

1st, I suggest actually researching on how the current medical techniques and medicines can be made cheaper and more affordable.

Get rid of or illegalize lobbying and make running for elections cheaper. The big medicine companies lobby big money to your representatives on capital hill to pass laws that maximize their profit at other people expense and suffering.

Create a national health system that treats infectious diseases ONLY. May it be AIDS, flu, tuberculous, herpes or the common cold, if it is a infectious disease that affects or threatens the public's health, the government should cover the bill for this falls in line with national defense. While at it, have these hospitals equipped and geared to handle and prevent the scenario of a bio-terrorism attack or an out break. Notice I did not say this should cover all problems. There is a very good reason for that. Anyone who reads the papers in Canada about getting approval for a treatment from the goverment after dying a day before would understand. Yes it would be covered but it could be very possible a person would die before receiving treatment and awaiting approval. If limiting to things that affect the public's health, then if done correctly, it would limit the need to treat further cases in the long run.

Figure out incentives to encourage insurance companies to offer affordable health care to people who are elderly or have pre existing conditions. Maybe a big tax break or a subsidy. Make doing such a thing worth their while in some way.

The final way is D.I.Y or Do it yourself. Get together with your fellow neighbors, family or friends and create a group account that everyone puts a certain amount of money into. If someone gets sick or injured, this money pot would cover such costs and since everyone knows each other, they know how to take care of each other. Simple yet not easy to do or get people to commit to, or sell the idea to.

Answer 3

The problems lie in the profit motives of these insurance and medical companies.

Cost shifting from the uninsured to the insured - the insured are forced to pay more than the uninsured.

Legal costs - too many law suits. This could be lower if they don't cut corners and pushing for record profit earnings. This is not the people's fault.

Equipment costs - I'm sure those who come up with those devices have to the right to their claim but it by asking too much will do more damage than good.

Profits - this is the force behind every thing. Greed always leads to high expenses for the consumer - especially for the non-retails.

Instead of coming up with a new drug, how about coming up with a real solution. Most drugs are not solutions. They are just temporary - if you stop taking them you will get sick again. If they really want to find the solution, I believe they can. Right now, I believe their intention is on profit not cures.

Answer 4

$200 a month?! Please tell me what kind of insurance you have so I can buy it. That's considered cheap. The cost of health care is increased by the high cost of running a medical office, hospital etc. Everything is expensive-- supplies, utilities, maintenence, malpractice insurance, etc. Wages add up also. In some big cities, the nurses earn $62/hour and more. They deserve to be paid, but otoh the money has to come from somewhere. Also, a lot of HMOs and insurance companies, mark up the premiums and pay the hospitals and doctors as little as possible (sometimes less than was paid in the 1980s). As a result, you'll hear or insurance co CEOs getting record Christmas bonuses, and insurance companies making record profits (and building beautiful skyscrapers). BTW, in the European Union, the ppl have to pay insurance premiums, pay co-payments and deductibles too. Boston George might sound angry, but he is right-- in towns like El Paso, Brownsville, Laredo TX, a lot of undocumented ppl flood the ERs and never pay. So we get to pay the costs passed on to us.

Answer 5

This is a glaring example of a free hand given to private parties in the name of a free market and how they in turn ,capture a most sensitive area of public services and squeeze and screw people out of shape.World over,sensitive public utilities and services like medical care and education, have some governmental control but in America it's free for all.People who did that are gone or dead but mass suffering continues.Public is resorting to alternative therapy and over the counter available drugs/medicines and indulging in self treatment and putting their health at a grave risk. So the very health care arrangements have become the most serious threat to it.All the talk of cost of doctors,nurses and what not may look justified but we should keep them aside and just ask a simple question like ,why can't we provide medical cover to people at reasonable cost like other countries or societies?An answer to this question would reveal the gradual absurdity which has been built in to the system and what can be done to remedy it.Like in many other fields,America must show the way through an example to the rest of the world.

Answer 6

EMTALA
Lawyers
Insurance companies
Medicaid

People now believe that they are owed care and any test possible even if they can't pay for it themselves. You DON'T have a right to medical care. If you choose to go to a business that provides care you should be expected to pay. You can't go to a restaurant and expect not to pay can you?

People have developed a mentality that they can get any care they want and not have to pay. There is no guarantee to health care and the costs escalate to cover all the free care that hospitals are expected to provide.

Also we have the highest standard of care in the world. People come from every part of the world, legally and illegally, to get the benefits of our health care system.

Answer 7

Capitalism needs to be removed from health care. It is a fact that hospitals charge more if a person has insurance than if they don't. So, insurance companies raise their rates to keep up. Make all health care facilities and pharmaceuticals non profit. That is a start.

Answer 8

You think 200 a month is expensive ??

What do you pay for rent ?

What do you pay for your car ?

I bet your cable bill is over 100 dollars.

So, your saying cable is more important than insurance ?

Why does it cost so much ?

Because we decided we wanted our doctors to have to attend 16 years of school, plus a couple of years as an intern, before we let them practice medicine.

Answer 9

I agree there should be a lot more tuition assistance for people to study things like medicine.

I think it's also the case that, people who can afford to will pay *everything they've got* for two more crummy minutes of life in an ICU, tying up big resources, after living long and decadent lives of gluttony, made possible by tying up even more resources.

So I'd ration it.

Answer 10

High litigation rewards against doctors, illegal aliens recieving free health care from our hospitals who then have to make up the losses by passing them on to you. Laws which allow US drug manufacturers to sell drugs at a premium in the US and at much lower costs abroad. Those are your primary problems.