Rising Health Care Costs: What you have to know

United States Citizens pay more than 1.5 trillion dollars for medical care each year and costs associated with all types of health care, such as prescription medicines, continue to increase at an enormous rate. While a few of the reasons behind this booming bill are understandable, United States Citizens caught in a cash crunch may be surprised to learn some of the lesser-known reasons for high health care costs.

The words health care can conjure up images of doctors, nurses and hospitals, but the reality is that the medical field is an industry and a ruthless one at that. Individual practitioners, researchers and participants may have marvelous aims and a genuine need to aid people, but the structure of the US health care system guarantees profit is the first issue of importance.

Here are some facts that might help explain the soaring costs of American health care:

Pharmaceutical research and development companies spend roughly $20 billion every year on Research and development, and roughly the same sum on advertising and self-promotional marketing activities.

Also, drug companies have as many sales people as there are doctors in the United States. One of the responsibilities of this sales force is to convince doctors to attend pharmaceutical company-sponsored seminars where medicines are showcased.

According to some economic experts, the acquisition of up to date technology is responsible for more than fifty percent of new health care outlay over the last 3 years.

A great deal of the hard cash North Americans pay for health care finds its way into the increasing profits on health care-related products and services such as the provision of medical insurance. Even greater costs have been forecast for the future, particularly for prescription drugs.

For numerous United States Citizens who are unable to afford the health care they require, rising costs represent an ever-increasing barrier to medical services and products. The financial burden is also found on the larger national scale with about 15 percent of gross domestic product going towards health care costs. That is equal to approximately a quarter of the yearly federal budget.

Comparatively, Canada invests in the area of 10 percent of its GDP on its public health care program. Unlike the U.S.A., Canadas health care program is universally available to all citizens and permanent residents without cost. Other countries, such as Germany, in which there is a public/private delivery system model for health care, manage to serve their populations for even less whilst still having better longevity than US Citizens. This proves that the caliber of health care does not increase proportionately with the amount of money spent to attain it.

While many Canadians supplement their universal health care with added insurance to the cost of medication and perks such as semi-private or private hospital rooms, health care insurance is much more necessary in the United States. Unfortunately, costs have been increasing dramatically, making health care insurance unreachable for many Americans. Presently, more than 40 million Americans do not receive any variety of health care benefit.

For employers, providing health care insurance for workers is also becoming increasingly expensive, with increases dramatically outpacing inflation rates. Some years, the difference is four or six fold. Even if premiums were to stay static, offering health care insurance to workers still costs several thousand dollars per worker. For smaller companies, or for the ones who employ a large number of people, these costs can be prohibitive.

Measures to trim down health care costs are always under consideration, though many are not popular choices. Suggestions that have been raised by various sources have included:

Increased drug awareness and teaching. Millions could be saved if health care insurance covered only generic versions of drugs that have been found to be just as effective as their more expensive brand name counterparts.

Stop expensive treatment choices will only add a short amount of time to a patients life, particularly if it will not be quality time (i.e. patient is in a coma).

Encourage preventative care such as smart lifestyle alternatives, proper nutrition and exercise.

Examine ways to control drug advertising to consumers. There is speculation that advertising has led to prescriptions of non-necessary drugs.

Limit malpractice liability so doctors and medical professionals do not feel pressured to cover themselves by ordering unnecessary tests to substantiate conditions they already know to be present.