Increasing Health Care Costs: What you have to know

North Americans pay more than 1.5 trillion dollars for medical care every year and costs related to all types of health care, such as prescription drugs, continue to rocket. While some of the reasons behind this booming bill are understandable, Americans caught in a cash crunch might be surprised to learn a few of the lesser-known reasons for escalating health care costs.

The words health care might invoke images of doctors, nurses and hospitals, but the reality is that the medical field is a business and a ruthless one at that. Individual practitioners, researchers and participants may have marvellous aims and a true desire to assist people, but the structure of the U.S. health care system guarantees profit is the number one issue of importance.

Here is some information that may assist in explaining the soaring costs of U.S. health care:

Pharmaceutical research and development companies spend approximately twenty billion dollars each year on R&D, and approximately the same amount on advertising and self-promotional merchandising activities.

Additionally, drug companies have as many sales people as there are doctors in the U S. One of the responsibilities of these sales teams 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 spending over the previous three years.

A good deal of the cash 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 envisaged for the future, especially for prescription drugs.

For many Americans who are unable to afford the health care they require, rising prices symbolise an ever-increasing impedance to medical services and merchandise. The fiscal effect is also found on the greater national scale with about fifteen percent of gross domestic product going towards health care costs. That is equal to around a fourth of the yearly federal budget.

Comparatively, Canada invests in the area of 10 percent of its Gross domestic product on its public health care program. Unlike the United States, 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 Americans. This proves that the caliber of health care does not increase proportionally with the amount of money spent to attain it.

While many Canadians supplement their overall health care with extra insurance to the cost of medication and perks such as semi-private or private hospital rooms, health care insurance is much more of a necessity in the United States. Unfortunately, costs have been spiraling dramatically, making health care insurance out of reach for many Americans. Presently, more than forty million Americans do not receive any kind of health care benefit.

For employers, offering health care insurance for their workforce is also becoming more expensive, with increases dramatically outpacing inflation rates. Some years, the difference is four or six fold. Even if premiums were to remain 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 cut down health care costs are always under consideration, though many are not popular options. Suggestions that have been raised by various sources have included:

Increased 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 alternatives will only add a small period of time to a patients life, especially if it will not be quality time (i.e. patient is in a coma).

Promote 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.

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