Health Care Costs... A Lot
It's Broke, So Fix It
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
For all the money we spend on health care services, why are we such a sickly country? We spend more on health care than any other country in the world, but we are not any healthier for it; why?
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
For all the money we spend on health care services, why are we such a sickly country? We spend more on health care than any other country in the world, but we are not any healthier for it; why?
Greed. Greedy hospital administrators, greedy pharmaceutical companies, greedy citizens...
Cost for service has shot out of control. Cost for medications has been in orbit for years and still we are not healthier for it. That is where reform should be directed.
Doctors live in fear of being sued by greedy patents. Insurance companies fear having to settle mal practice claims and jack up the premiums to physicians, which trickles down to the consumer in higher costs for service.
Many doctors are leaving their practices in rural areas because they can't afford their mal practice insurance, and some are leaving the field of medicine entirely. That leaves us without doctors to provide care.
Insurance companies play God when it comes to deciding who will get treatment and who won't based on affordability. Pre-existing conditions keep many uninsured, and those who have insurance run the risk of losing it when they fall ill.
Denial of treatment because of cost should not be something to be afraid of, yet millions fear this very thing.
Pharmaceutical companies are holding us hostage with their pricing for patented drugs that may do more harm than good. Do you watch television? Have you noticed the flood of commercials for drugs? That is where the American dollar is going- to television commercials for drugs that will most likely be recalled. We are paying for the advertising these drugs, not for their effectiveness in treating our ails.
These commercials tout these drugs while at the same time telling us that they could cause other problems down the road. Why would anyone take a drug that may cause lymphoma, kidney failure, or other serious problems down the road? They have to add these disclaimers, to warn the public, but why are these medications allowed to be marketed if they are not completely safe to begin with?
I remember a time when a person went to the doctor, identified the problem and got some medication. There were no million dollar television campaigns to sell drugs, nor were we told to ask our doctors about certain drugs; we trusted our doctors to know what to prescribe. But now that there is a pill for everything that ails you, they have to advertise to get you to buy them. 'Talk to your doctor to get the prescription and spend your money on our latest greatest...'
I have to wonder if the pharmaceutical companies have contributed to hypochondria in this country. There is a pill for everything under the sun, and new disorders are being identified almost as quickly as the pills are developed.
Pharmaceutical companies say that they need to charge these ridiculous prices to cover the cost of research and development, but I think it has more to do with the cost of advertising. $20 per pill times 365 days per year comes to $7300.00 per year. If this happens to be a drug that you must take for the rest of your life, well, you're bankrupt. That is $600 per month for one medication. That is a mortgage payment! God help the people who are told to take a fist-full of pills each day. Is it any wonder that the elderly sometimes eat food rather than take their medications?
At this rate, we'd be better off living without bodies that can succumb to restless leg syndrome. Just put my head in the freezer dear, and I'll always be here for you, unless I get a tumor.
I think the medical industry sets us up for sickness. They make more money that way. Healthy people don't take pills and don't spend time in the hospital.
The government taxes the hell out of cigarettes and alcohol, why don't they tax the hell out of pharmaceutical companies? Sin tax is absorbed by those using those products; so why can't the government reduce the cost of medications and tax the hell out of the companies that make them? I think it is ironic that non-smokers, for example, complain about smokers' invading their air space, but if it weren't for those smokers, many of the government subsidies they enjoy would have no funding, at least until a tax were created to tax the things non-smokers do use.
Right now, 73% of the cost of a $6.00 pack of cigarettes is tax.
Reduce the cost of medications and tax the companies that make them. Cap mal practice claims and reduce premiums for physicians. Do not allow drug makers to market drugs that will create new illness after long term use. Do not allow drug makers to advertise their drugs on television. Reduce the time limit on patents to allow for generic substitutes. Save the consumer some money.
Make the system work for the people. Reduce costs so that private paying doesn't break the bank. There would be no reason to have health insurance, if health care were affordable. That is what insurance companies are afraid of.
Another thing to consider is the fact that providers charge insurance companies almost double what private payors shell out of pocket for self payment. What is up with that?
Copyright © 2009
The Trii-Zine Ezine
About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. EST 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276
Author of: My Journey A Lifetime of Verse, ISBN: 978-0-61516405-2
Cost for service has shot out of control. Cost for medications has been in orbit for years and still we are not healthier for it. That is where reform should be directed.
Doctors live in fear of being sued by greedy patents. Insurance companies fear having to settle mal practice claims and jack up the premiums to physicians, which trickles down to the consumer in higher costs for service.
Many doctors are leaving their practices in rural areas because they can't afford their mal practice insurance, and some are leaving the field of medicine entirely. That leaves us without doctors to provide care.
Insurance companies play God when it comes to deciding who will get treatment and who won't based on affordability. Pre-existing conditions keep many uninsured, and those who have insurance run the risk of losing it when they fall ill.
Denial of treatment because of cost should not be something to be afraid of, yet millions fear this very thing.
Pharmaceutical companies are holding us hostage with their pricing for patented drugs that may do more harm than good. Do you watch television? Have you noticed the flood of commercials for drugs? That is where the American dollar is going- to television commercials for drugs that will most likely be recalled. We are paying for the advertising these drugs, not for their effectiveness in treating our ails.
These commercials tout these drugs while at the same time telling us that they could cause other problems down the road. Why would anyone take a drug that may cause lymphoma, kidney failure, or other serious problems down the road? They have to add these disclaimers, to warn the public, but why are these medications allowed to be marketed if they are not completely safe to begin with?
I remember a time when a person went to the doctor, identified the problem and got some medication. There were no million dollar television campaigns to sell drugs, nor were we told to ask our doctors about certain drugs; we trusted our doctors to know what to prescribe. But now that there is a pill for everything that ails you, they have to advertise to get you to buy them. 'Talk to your doctor to get the prescription and spend your money on our latest greatest...'
I have to wonder if the pharmaceutical companies have contributed to hypochondria in this country. There is a pill for everything under the sun, and new disorders are being identified almost as quickly as the pills are developed.
Pharmaceutical companies say that they need to charge these ridiculous prices to cover the cost of research and development, but I think it has more to do with the cost of advertising. $20 per pill times 365 days per year comes to $7300.00 per year. If this happens to be a drug that you must take for the rest of your life, well, you're bankrupt. That is $600 per month for one medication. That is a mortgage payment! God help the people who are told to take a fist-full of pills each day. Is it any wonder that the elderly sometimes eat food rather than take their medications?
At this rate, we'd be better off living without bodies that can succumb to restless leg syndrome. Just put my head in the freezer dear, and I'll always be here for you, unless I get a tumor.
I think the medical industry sets us up for sickness. They make more money that way. Healthy people don't take pills and don't spend time in the hospital.
The government taxes the hell out of cigarettes and alcohol, why don't they tax the hell out of pharmaceutical companies? Sin tax is absorbed by those using those products; so why can't the government reduce the cost of medications and tax the hell out of the companies that make them? I think it is ironic that non-smokers, for example, complain about smokers' invading their air space, but if it weren't for those smokers, many of the government subsidies they enjoy would have no funding, at least until a tax were created to tax the things non-smokers do use.
Right now, 73% of the cost of a $6.00 pack of cigarettes is tax.
Reduce the cost of medications and tax the companies that make them. Cap mal practice claims and reduce premiums for physicians. Do not allow drug makers to market drugs that will create new illness after long term use. Do not allow drug makers to advertise their drugs on television. Reduce the time limit on patents to allow for generic substitutes. Save the consumer some money.
Make the system work for the people. Reduce costs so that private paying doesn't break the bank. There would be no reason to have health insurance, if health care were affordable. That is what insurance companies are afraid of.
Another thing to consider is the fact that providers charge insurance companies almost double what private payors shell out of pocket for self payment. What is up with that?
Copyright © 2009
The Trii-Zine Ezine
About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. EST 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276
Author of: My Journey A Lifetime of Verse, ISBN: 978-0-61516405-2
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