Saturday, September 6, 2008

possible determinents to cost of health care and suggestions

In order to answer the question of why the cost of health care is high in US, we need to examine a few factors that might be contributing to health care costs.
According to the book "Comparative Health Policy," there are three major components that are considered growing problems: Ageing populations, Medical technology, and rising public expectations and demands. As widely know, elderly population is increasing and the expenditure of medical care and hospital use significantly increases. Even for the cost of drugs increased from $500 to $250,000 within ten years for a patient going through chemotherapy. Lastly, public is expecting more medical intervention with reliance on newer technology. Relying on technology translate the cost of specialists. What these identified major problems tell us is that there are more demand on medical care and new technologies by all ages , and thus the cost will go up with the demand. Take gasoline for example, the price of gasoline has risen up to above $4.00 from $2.00 per gallon within about one year. Though there are alternative transportation, the service is not sufficent to cover for people who commute between cities and people who live in suburban. Even with high cost of gasoline, majority of population need it to drive to survive.
The medical care cost is the same. Public is spending more money on drugs and technology for survival purpose; even if it meant for extra weeks of living.
The major question captivate public is the solution to this rising cost of medical care and hance health care. We can reduce administrative cost by eliminating paperwork and "gatekeepers." But, we still have to solve the majority of cost to buy insurance, visit doctors, emergency service and cost to see specialists. For solutions, we need to conduct more research on various contributers to health cost and looking into other part health care systems that are working. We should also find strategies to negociate with health care providers possible ways to reduce cost.

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