Source: PatientEngagementHIT
Reasons for High Health-Care Cost
The United States spends the most annually on healthcare but still experiences the worst healthcare outcomes and patient experiences in the world. This is primarily because the United States spends insurance money on expenses that don’t equate to a positive patient outcome. These include robotic machineries or drugs that have the same effect as already manufactured drugs but have a higher manufacturing cost. In addition to that, the United States has a “for profit insurance system” which is where employers provide a basis of insurance but people still have to pay for the majority of it. The US also has many private insurers that leads to a high amount of money being used to keep these funds afloat.
Comparing Health Care Costs Globally
Comparatively, in other countries there are much more efficient ways to provide healthcare and not cause the people to go bankrupt. In the United Kingdom, there is a government run national health service, NHS, that is used as the primary insurance. This is a source of free healthcare but the citizens will pay higher taxes to cover the “free” healthcare. This type of healthcare reduces the waiting list of people going on the insurance due to the massive amount of government control over this fund. Similarly, in Japan, the people sign up for health insurance policy through work or community and the government pays for those who cannot afford through a policy called social insurance. This has led to Japan having the lowest infant mortality rate and highest life expectancy due to the fact that it has healthcare available for everyone regardless of their employment or economic status. The price of every medical procedure a doctor provides is set by the government and the doctor cannot alter it which is another defining factor of Japan’s health insurance policies and helps them maintain a constant pricing. In Germany people pay premiums based on income to 240 private insurers or sickness funds that aren’t allowed to make a profit as they directly go back to bettering health care services in the country. And probably the worst of all, Taiwan has the type of insurance that is most similar to America’s with initially forcing everyone to pay with no opt-out option. However, they have since changed their policy to include every medical necessity including vision, hearing, etc. These are just a few examples of how the United States is lacking in the economic aspect of healthcare and how they can benefit from other country’s to create a better system and lower the massive cost of health insurance and lower the amount of uninsured people.
Citations:
https://www.today.com/tmrw/why-healthcare-so-expensive-united-states-t192119
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/080615/6-reasons-healthcare-so-expensive-us.asp
https://youtu.be/h4rg-DJBd34
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