Arguments against high healthcare costs

Healthcare Costs Are Out of Control

How can we as consumers get better value and reduce costs?

Prewriting for a Thesis recently visited the Emergency Room in a nearby hospital with my brother, who broke his arm. He was admitted for an overnight stay for observation. While his care was more than adequate, I was shocked to see the bill for his services. Although my family paid only a small amount (for co-pay), the itemized costs appeared completely out of line. I would argue that these high expenses are not justified, and that the primary culprit is the lack of personal responsibility to pay the bill and the willingness of the health care provider to increase prices.

There were four items on the bill which support the point. Ibuprofen was billed at $10 per pill. Administrative overhead was booked separately at $100 for the Emergency Room visit. The cost of the room for an overnight stay (12 hours) was $800. And the doctor's charge, which came separately, was $500 for a total of 1 hour of work.

Hospitals and physicians may argue that my brother's bill was high because they needed to provide care to indigent patients or those without insurance coverage. In addition, they may argue that the higher cost insures that patients like my brother would have additional, expensive services available should the need arise.

I can see that the healthcare system must support non-paying patients. With 20% of Americans not covered, that means that the average hospital may add a 20% "indigent tax" for those who cannot pay -- but these services were billed at a much higher rate than that. It also makes sense that a hospital must provide back-up services whose cost must be covered. For those who have relatively simple needs, perhaps a hospital is not the best place to have such treatment and pay such high overhead.

As consumers of medical services, we have a responsibility to question our bills, and to push for reforms that allow for greater transparency in billing. We should not simply accept high charges, and look for alternatives, such as emergency-care offices and HMO's, which may offer lower-cost care.

The reason that healthcare costs are so high in this country is that each of us, as consumers, does not feel the actual cost of the healthcare services we use. If we were to directly pay our insurance premiums, and a significant part of our medical services, we would be more discerning consumers.

Plan of Argument

The cost of healthcare is too high.

We as consumers bear the primary responsibility to control healthcare costs.

If we pay our own insurance premiums, and a significant part of our healthcare expenses, we will help to bring down the costs of healthcare.

Introduction

Why should a hospital bill $10 for an aspirin pill? Our healthcare expenses are too high, and we as consumers must do something about it. Our healthcare system has managed to insulate itself from consumer pressures for too long. We have ended up with a very expensive system, little choice, and an opaque system that does not reveal the value we receive for our money. We as consumers must re-assert our ability to choose in order to reduce healthcare costs, and improve the quality of what we receive.

A recently accompanied my brother to the emergency room of a local hospital for a broken arm. While I was pleased with the overall care he received, the bill for setting his arm and an overnight stay for observation topped $2,000! Medical professionals may argue that the amount paid reflects their need to cover the costs of overhead and the indigent, but no medical professional can defend $10 for an over-the-counter pain pill or $800 for the use of a room overnight.

The cost of healthcare is too high

Americans spend more on healthcare than any other nation, both as a percent of our GDP and in absolute dollars. At present, we spend nearly 15% of GDP, or $7,000 per man, woman and child in the United States on healthcare. The next highest nations, Germany and France, spend only about 10% of their GDP on healthcare. The additional 50% we spend does not reward us in longer lives or a better quality of life.

Those in the healthcare community would argue that Americans receive the best healthcare in the world, and we therefore pay more. I would argue that the best measure of healthcare is longevity, and Americans do not live longer than those in other developed countries. While we may lead the world in high-tech solutions to healthcare problems, the results are no better than elsewhere -- just more expensive.

We as consumers bear the primary responsibility to control costs

Our current experience in the healthcare system is that we make few choices, and do little to scrutinize the charges billed to us by healthcare providers. Since most of us have our healthcare premiums paid by our employers, we seldom have the opportunity to choose our specific healthcare plan (or choose from a limited selection provided by our employer). This is not how we make other major purchasing decisions, such as a house or an automobile.

We also see little detail of our healthcare bills. Since most of us pay only a portion of our bills, through a small percentage or a nominal co-payment amount, we as consumers do not look for value or efficiency when we shop.

Those in the healthcare community may argue that the quality of care should not have a price, nor does price enter into the equation when physicians are considering healthcare delivery options. While this may be true on an individual basis, healthcare professionals do live in an environment where resources are limited. We do not exercise our ability to change demand, or change suppliers, based on cost.

If we pay for more of our healthcare, we can lower costs

In no other major part of our expenditures do we hand over complete authority to others. With all major purchases, we as consumers demand quality for money, whether for services or for products. As we've seen above, the fact that we insulate ourselves from our healthcare expenditures means that we leave discernment at the door when we walk into a healthcare institution.