Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeRedskin
From the various sources I have gone through, it appears that the price of healthcare - and by that I mean doctor's visits, operations, and pharmaceuticals, not the cost of insurance - has risen drastically in the last 10 years.
In your opinion Schneed - what are the two or three factors driving this rapid increase. (I am assuming malpractice insurance is one but are there others?)
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Main factors causing cost increases, in no particular order:
- Science & Technology
We're flat out coming out with amazing technology that can help people get better faster and with less inconvenience. Tiny cameras in the form of a pill that can be swallowed to diagnose gastrointestinal problems. A Gamma Knife machine which irradiates otherwise inoperable brain tumors with gamma particles, extending the life of cancer patients. Da Vinci robotic surgical machines allowing surgeons to operate with even more precision, eliminating the few tremors and quakes they experience by using their very steady fingers. Hospitals often fear that they will lose their existing patients to another hospital with superior technology, so they enter an arms race of sorts to keep up. This sometimes results in an abundance of advanced technology in the community that ends up underutilized.
- Pharmaceuticals
Similarly, advances in research are leading towards more advanced drugs. The cost of manufacturing the drugs, let alone researching them, can get exhorbitant. Many of these drugs can extend the lives of patients, but some don't do a better job than existing tried and true less expensive alternatives.
- Malpractice
Doctors, especially obstetricians, have difficulty breaking even in some states because of this problem. Their malpractice insurance costs are growing so wildly as claims and awards are taking off. It's just like your car insurance; if you live in an area with high accident rates then you will pay more to insure your car. Likewise, in areas where claims and awards are high, malpractice insurance grows to the point that it makes practicing medicine prohibitive. Caps on malpractice awards would curb malpractice premiums a great deal.