Taking A Look At The Rising Cost Of Health Care

Posted by Cliff Noteman

January 9, 2010

With all of the discussion going on about health care and the need for some sort of reform — which almost nobody would dispute needs to occur — understanding the rising cost of health care can be important on a number of fronts. With costs across the board increasing in all areas of the health care front, getting a handle on how best to control costs involved in it is vital.

The first thing to understand is that the term “health care costs” encompasses the universe of input factors. Literally, the cost to produce a single new prescription medication can run into the billions of dollars on the part of a private pharmaceutical company, and those costs must be recouped somehow. Naturally, it is usually the end user in this country who pays for those costs.

Another example of how health care costs are affected by developments and innovations is in the area of diagnostic technologies such as new improvements in screening techniques. For example, just a decade ago the most effective diagnostic and screening tool for many internal issues was the CAT scanner, and though it is as effective today as ever, patients are pushing for advanced MRIs instead.

Certainly, there are many instances when an MRI was called for, but many doctors will also say that it’s just as likely in some cases that and older-style CAT scanner may work just as well in getting to the root of the issue. An MRI exam can cost more than a CAT exam, but patients have been accustomed and convinced that it is only an MRI that will be definitive in almost every case.

Additionally, physicians who maintain credentials at a particular hospital may, as a group, demand that the hospital install the latest and greatest in these screening technologies, sometimes at great cost and expense. The physicians do not pay the costs directly, so the hospital must find ways to pass the costs along. Of course, the end-user (a. K. A. The patient) and his insurance company pay.

Rising costs in much of the health care sector can also be tied to generally poor health habits on the part of many people in westernized societies. Western diets are high in saturated fats, and too many people smoke and drink alcohol far too often. Obesity seems to be a rising concern, also. Of course, with more people accessing health care because of medical issues, costs seem to increase.

There are ways to cut the rising cost of health care appreciably, though discipline in spending across all sectors in the health care delivery system needs to occur. Whether or not current government initiatives aimed at reforming the system will work as a matter up for debate. What’s for sure is that these rising costs don’t seem to show any signs of abating anytime soon.

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