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VOL. 8, , NO. 26
THE ABSURDLY HIGH AND CONFUSING COSTS OF HEALTH CARE Terry MILLER tmiller@beaconmedianews.com
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ot only is it expensive, but the mere mention of rising healthcare costs is enough to put anyone into bankruptcy or worse, cardiac arrest. The United States is one of the richest nations in the world and yet healthcare is apparently not a priority for many politicians. Health care costs rising far faster than inflation have been a major driver for health care reform in the United States. As of 2016, the U.S. spent $3.3 trillion (17.9% of GDP), or $10,438 per person; major categories included 32% on hospital care, 20% on physician and clinical services, and 10% on prescription drugs. Under private health insurance, spending per person rose 4.5% between 2017 and 2018, even though the same numbers of people were enrolled. With such a level of economic increase, people will increasingly face difficulty in obtaining medical care. While spending is highest, the United States ranks 27th in the world for its levels of health care, according to an article published in Fortune Magazine. You’d think that by the time one reaches retirement age when Medicare will kick in, all your worries will be over. Not so much. Reading the volumes out there about Medicare is enough to make your head spin. There are no easy answers to anything, it seems. But at least Medicare exists. So for example, say you turn 65 and are disabled, bedbound and have only a small social security stipend each month. The A&B parts of Medicare will cost approximately $120 per month, payable quarterly. But what does that cover? Is in-home health care available through Medicare?
Regular physical check-ups can hopefully keep your medical bills down. – Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
That depends, apparently, on what kind of care you require. The best advice is to do research with the assistance of companies like AARP. It would appear that one needs supplemental insurance of top of Medicare to cover certain tests or other medical procedures. With the upcoming election, health care is very much on the minds of voters and each of the 24 — thus far — candidates for the 2020 presidential election will tout his or her diatribe on how we can fix our ailing system. One program many agree on is called “single payer.” Single-payer healthcare
is a type of universal healthcare financed by taxes that covers the costs of essential healthcare for all residents, with costs covered by a single public system (hence “singlepayer”). Jonathan Oberlander, PhD, and professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, expounds on the history and obstacles facing calls for single payer health care reform. In a New England Journal of Medicine piece in 2016, Oberlander points out that the “impetus for reorganizing the entire health care system has to do with the regrettable state
of health care in the United States. Currently, the health care finance structure is made of an impressively complicated network of multiple payers, involving both private and government health insurance options. Despite spending more on health care than comparable countries, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy and performs poorly on a variety of health outcomes. Thus, our complex network of insurance plans is wasteful — in large part due to high administrative costs and lack of price control.” The other major expense in health care is fluctuating
prescription costs from the big pharmaceutical companies. The price of the same prescription drug can vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on where you buy it, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group which surveyed hundreds of pharmacies and found large price differences for identical medications. One basic need for millions of Americans is insulin. One month supply along with the other needed things like the needles can cost in excess of $1,400. Because of these prices, many diabetics are
opting to go to Canada or Mexico to get the same medicines at a fraction of the cost in the U.S. In the U.K., the National Health Service (NHS) has been highly criticized but essentially it is a Medicare for all or “single payer” system. Everyone is covered. The public pays a National Health Stamp with each paycheck (a tax, if you will) and this ensures basic care is available for all. Some, however, opt for private doctors out of the NHS due to much publicized lengthy wait times for elective surgeries, etc., in Great Britain.