Spiraling Health Care Costs: What you should know

United States Citizens pay more than one and a half trillion dollars for medical care every year and costs associated with all types of health care, such as prescription drugs, continue to skyrocket. While a few of the reasons behind this booming bill are understandable, North Americans caught in a cash crunch might be surprised to hear a few of the lesser-known causes of high health care costs.

The words health care could conjure up 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 marvellous aims and a true desire to assist people, but the structure of the US health care system ensures profit is the highest issue of importance.

Here is some information that could help explain the escalating costs of American health care:

Pharmaceutical research and development corporations spend approximately $20 billion each year on Research and development, and about a similar sum 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 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 50 percent of new health care spending over the previous 3 years.

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

For numerous Americans who are not able to afford the health care they need, rising costs represent an ever-increasing block to medical services and products. The financial effect is also experienced on the larger national scale with about fifteen percent of gross domestic product going towards health care costs. That is equal to around one fourth of the yearly federal budget.

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

While many Canadians supplement their overall 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 essential in the United States. Unfortunately, costs have been rising dramatically, making health care insurance out of reach for many Americans. Currently, more than 40 million Americans don't receive any variety 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 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.

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

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

Terminate 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).

Promote preventative care such as smart lifestyle options, correct nutrition and exercise.

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

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