Spiraling Health Care Costs: What you have to know

North Americans pay more than 1.5 trillion dollars for medical care each year and costs associated with all manner of health care, such as prescription medicines, continue to skyrocket. While a few of the reasons behind this booming bill are comprehensible, US Citizens caught in a cash crunch may be surprised to discover a few of the lesser-known reasons for escalating health care costs.

The words health care may invoke images of doctors, nurses and hospitals, but the reality is that the medical field is an industry and a remorseless one at that. Individual practitioners, researchers and participants may have marvelous aims and a true need to aid people, but the structure of the U.S. health care system assures profit is the highest issue of importance.

Here is some information that could help explain the soaring costs of US health care:

Pharmaceutic research and development corporations spend about twenty billion dollars every year on Research and development, and about a similar sum on advertising and self-promotional marketing activities.

Additionally, drug companies have as many sales persons as there are doctors in the U S. 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 economists, the acquisition of up to date technology is responsible for more than fifty percent of new health care outlay over the last 3 years.

Much of the hard cash US Citizens 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 higher costs have been forseen for the future, especially for prescription drugs.

For numerous Americans who are unable to afford the health care they need, spiraling prices symbolise an ever-increasing impedance to medical services and products. The fiscal burden is also found on the greater national scale with about 15 percent of gross domestic product going towards health care costs. That is equal to roughly one fourth of the annual federal budget.

Comparatively, Canada invests about ten percent of its Gross domestic product on its public health care program. Unlike the US, 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 citizens for even less while still having greater longevity than North Americans. This proves that the caliber of health care does not rise proportionately with the amount of money spent to attain it.

While many Canadians supplement their overall health care with added insurance to the cost of medication and benefits 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 out of reach for many Americans. Currently, more than 40 million Americans don't receive any kind of health care benefit.

For employers, offering 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 unchanging, providing health care insurance to employees 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 bring down health care costs are always under consideration, though many are not popular choices. Suggestions that have been raised by various sources have included:

Extra drug awareness and training. Millions could be saved if health care insurance covered only generic variants of drugs that have been proven just as effective as their more expensive brand name counterparts.

Terminate expensive treatment options will only add a short period of time to a patients life, especially if it will not be quality time (i.e. patient is in a coma).

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

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

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