The Main Reason for the Increases in Health Care Costs

[Christopher]

I posted this in as a response in another thread and thought it would be useful information for those who do not understand why our health care costs are rising. Since, if we do not address the root causes of the increases we do not have a shot at health care reform that really works long term. This is from the CBO, Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending

From 1965 to 2005, real health care expenditures per capita increased nearly sixfold in the United States. That large increase was the combined result of many factors, and accounting precisely for all of them is difficult. Nonetheless, the general consensus among health economists is that growth in real health care spending was principally the result of the emergence of new medical technologies and services and their adoption and widespread diffusion by the U.S. health care system.5

This is a very good report and discusses some of the other issues with health care costs.

 

[Care4all]

haven't read it yet, but my question is, why haven't other countries had to spend so much money on these technological advancements to the degree that we have here in the USA?

Is the rest of the world getting the advantage of these newer technologies but the American citizen the one that has to absorb ALL THE COSTS of these advancements and the research and developments costs?

 

[JimH52]

I posted this in as a response in another thread and thought it would be useful information for those who do not understand why our health care costs are rising. Since, if we do not address the root causes of the increases we do not have a shot at health care reform that really works long term. This is from the CBO, Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending

From 1965 to 2005, real health care expenditures per capita increased nearly sixfold in the United States. That large increase was the combined result of many factors, and accounting precisely for all of them is difficult. Nonetheless, the general consensus among health economists is that growth in real health care spending was principally the result of the emergence of new medical technologies and services and their adoption and widespread diffusion by the U.S. health care system.5

This is a very good report and discusses some of the other issues with health care costs.

Human being will always look for better technologies in Health Care. It would also seem to reason that the expenses of these new technologies would decrease over time. Health care seems to be the one area where this is not true.

 

[Chris]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

 

[Christopher]

haven't read it yet, but my question is, why haven't other countries had to spend so much money on these technological advancements to the degree that we have here in the USA?

Is the rest of the world getting the advantage of these newer technologies but the American citizen the one that has to absorb ALL THE COSTS of these advancements and the research and developments costs?

You ask a good question. There are costs that we are absorbing that other countries are not paying for, particularly for development of drugs. Go here (bold emphasis added) Health care in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The U.S. government has taken the position (through the Office of the United States Trade Representative) that U.S. drug prices are rising because U.S. consumers are effectively subsidizing costs which drug companies cannot recover from consumers in other countries (because many other countries use their bulk-purchasing power to aggressively negotiate drug prices).[187] The U.S. position (consistent with the primary lobbying position of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) is that the governments of such countries are free riding on the backs of U.S. consumers. Such governments should either deregulate their markets, or raise their domestic taxes in order to fairly compensate U.S. consumers by directly remitting the difference (between what the companies would earn in an open market versus what they are earning now) to drug companies or to the U.S. government. In turn, pharmaceutical companies would be able to continue to produce innovative pharmaceuticals while lowering prices for U.S. consumers.

I would think we are absorbing other costs, although, it still does not change the fact that the main cause of the health care cost increases in the United States is from development of new technologies.

 

[KittenKoder]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

Another classic quote ... thanks for the laugh Chris ... sometime though, make it so I don't laugh at your expense.

 

[KittenKoder]

haven't read it yet, but my question is, why haven't other countries had to spend so much money on these technological advancements to the degree that we have here in the USA?

Is the rest of the world getting the advantage of these newer technologies but the American citizen the one that has to absorb ALL THE COSTS of these advancements and the research and developments costs?

Aaah ... there's the conundrum ... why does it cost more in the US than other countries for the same shit? Simplistic answer: Regulation and licensing fees.

 

[Christopher]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

When the CBO mentions "medical technology", here is how they define it (from the link):

CBO defines technological advances as changes in clinical practice that enhance the ability of providers to diagnose, treat, or prevent health problems. Technological advances take many forms. Examples include new drugs, devices, or services, as well as new clinical applications of existing technologies (providing a particular service to a broader set of patients, for example). Other technological changes are newly developed techniques or additions to knowledge.

You are right, technology by itself doesn't make you healthier, although that really is not the topic of this thread. Exercising and eating right are the best ways to stay healthy, which has nothing to do with a health care system.

Advancements in medical technology have improved many people's lives and have actually saved lives. Perhaps you think we should not have developed the following medical technologies, listed in the CBO link:

Revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease
Renal Replacement Therapy for Kidney Failure
Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplantation
Neonatal Intensive Care
Joint Replacement
Diagnostic Imaging

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

[Sarcasm on] Yes, you're right that is ALL it does.[Sarcasm off] Only if you think the items I listed above and the many other advancements in medical technology have not provided any significant value to anyone.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I posted this in as a response in another thread and thought it would be useful information for those who do not understand why our health care costs are rising. Since, if we do not address the root causes of the increases we do not have a shot at health care reform that really works long term. This is from the CBO, Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending

From 1965 to 2005, real health care expenditures per capita increased nearly sixfold in the United States. That large increase was the combined result of many factors, and accounting precisely for all of them is difficult. Nonetheless, the general consensus among health economists is that growth in real health care spending was principally the result of the emergence of new medical technologies and services and their adoption and widespread diffusion by the U.S. health care system.5

This is a very good report and discusses some of the other issues with health care costs.

Human being will always look for better technologies in Health Care. It would also seem to reason that the expenses of these new technologies would decrease over time. Health care seems to be the one area where this is not true.

Correction. Health care that is paid for by third-party coverage is an area where this is not true. And why should it be? The consumer isn't the person forking over the cash. But when you look at medical procedures where the patient is also the payer, you see that within a year of a new procedure or technology being developed, the price drops like a stone. Look at the difference between laser eye surgery when it first became available and now. Or lap band surgery for weight loss. Or any of a number of other procedures.

 

[Christopher]

I posted this in as a response in another thread and thought it would be useful information for those who do not understand why our health care costs are rising. Since, if we do not address the root causes of the increases we do not have a shot at health care reform that really works long term. This is from the CBO, Technological Change and the Growth of Health Care Spending



This is a very good report and discusses some of the other issues with health care costs.

Human being will always look for better technologies in Health Care. It would also seem to reason that the expenses of these new technologies would decrease over time. Health care seems to be the one area where this is not true.

Correction. Health care that is paid for by third-party coverage is an area where this is not true. And why should it be? The consumer isn't the person forking over the cash. But when you look at medical procedures where the patient is also the payer, you see that within a year of a new procedure or technology being developed, the price drops like a stone. Look at the difference between laser eye surgery when it first became available and now. Or lap band surgery for weight loss. Or any of a number of other procedures.

You hit on one of the points the CBO made in the link. Here it says that Medicare/Medicaid (third party systems) have also increased health care spending:

Changes in Third-Party Payment. More generous third-party payment—from the creation of Medicare and Medicaid and subsequent changes to these programs, for example—effectively reduced the average out-of-pocket cost of health care over the past several decades, leading to higher health care expenditures. As a share of all per capita spending on personal health care, consumers’ out-of-pocket costs have fallen sharply, from 52 percent in 1965 to 15 percent in 2005 (see Figure 6). Empirical analyses suggest that under an assumption of no change in medical technology, the expansion of insurance coverage can account for 10 percent to 13 percent of the long-term rise in health care spending (see Table 2). That expansion, in turn, could have had a larger effect on spending by hastening the adoption of cost-increasing new technologies.8

 

[veritas]

As a share of all per capita spending on personal health care, consumers’ out-of-pocket costs have fallen sharply, from 52 percent in 1965 to 15 percent in 2005 (see Figure 6).

sounds like bunkem.

 

[Christopher]

As a share of all per capita spending on personal health care, consumers’ out-of-pocket costs have fallen sharply, from 52 percent in 1965 to 15 percent in 2005 (see Figure 6).

sounds like bunkem.

Regardless of what it "sounds like", it is based upon fact. If you can find another credible source that shows it is crap, please provide it.

 

[Chris]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

When the CBO mentions "medical technology", here is how they define it (from the link):

CBO defines technological advances as changes in clinical practice that enhance the ability of providers to diagnose, treat, or prevent health problems. Technological advances take many forms. Examples include new drugs, devices, or services, as well as new clinical applications of existing technologies (providing a particular service to a broader set of patients, for example). Other technological changes are newly developed techniques or additions to knowledge.

You are right, technology by itself doesn't make you healthier, although that really is not the topic of this thread. Exercising and eating right are the best ways to stay healthy, which has nothing to do with a health care system.

Advancements in medical technology have improved many people's lives and have actually saved lives. Perhaps you think we should not have developed the following medical technologies, listed in the CBO link:

Revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease
Renal Replacement Therapy for Kidney Failure
Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplantation
Neonatal Intensive Care
Joint Replacement
Diagnostic Imaging

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

[Sarcasm on] Yes, you're right that is ALL it does.[Sarcasm off] Only if you think the items I listed above and the many other advancements in medical technology have not provided any significant value to anyone.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

The healthcare companies don't want you to eat right and exercise.

 

[Chris]

As a share of all per capita spending on personal health care, consumers’ out-of-pocket costs have fallen sharply, from 52 percent in 1965 to 15 percent in 2005 (see Figure 6).

sounds like bunkem.

Regardless of what it "sounds like", it is based upon fact. If you can find another credible source that shows it is crap, please provide it.

According to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine, increasing numbers of people are going bankrupt because of illness and medical costs. Health-related debts caused 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007, up from 46 percent six years earlier.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, the study's senior author, expects about the same percentage of this year's anticipated 1.4 million to 1.5 million bankruptcies to be caused at least in part by medical expenses.

The increases are caused largely by "health coverage that is getting skimpier and skimpier," said Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Health care bills would limit out-of-pocket costs | McClatchy

 

[saveliberty]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

Okay, that is just stupid. MRIs allow you to know what is going on inside without surgery. The list goes on and on. Your drivel means we should stop using tools whort of a rock? God forbid money changes hands when it involves health care. In your case, no amont of technology is going to cure stupid.

 

[Chris]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

Okay, that is just stupid. MRIs allow you to know what is going on inside without surgery. The list goes on and on. Your drivel means we should stop using tools whort of a rock? God forbid money changes hands when it involves health care. In your case, no amont of technology is going to cure stupid.

No amount of technology is going to make you healthier.

Health is about lifestyle, and it is the main thing missing from our healthcare equation.

Idiot.

 

[Christopher]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

When the CBO mentions "medical technology", here is how they define it (from the link):



You are right, technology by itself doesn't make you healthier, although that really is not the topic of this thread. Exercising and eating right are the best ways to stay healthy, which has nothing to do with a health care system.

Advancements in medical technology have improved many people's lives and have actually saved lives. Perhaps you think we should not have developed the following medical technologies, listed in the CBO link:

Revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease
Renal Replacement Therapy for Kidney Failure
Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplantation
Neonatal Intensive Care
Joint Replacement
Diagnostic Imaging

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

[Sarcasm on] Yes, you're right that is ALL it does.[Sarcasm off] Only if you think the items I listed above and the many other advancements in medical technology have not provided any significant value to anyone.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

The healthcare companies don't want you to eat right and exercise.

Please explain how your response here has anything to do with my reply to your statement about medical technology.

 

[Christopher]

sounds like bunkem.

Regardless of what it "sounds like", it is based upon fact. If you can find another credible source that shows it is crap, please provide it.

According to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine, increasing numbers of people are going bankrupt because of illness and medical costs. Health-related debts caused 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007, up from 46 percent six years earlier.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, the study's senior author, expects about the same percentage of this year's anticipated 1.4 million to 1.5 million bankruptcies to be caused at least in part by medical expenses.

The increases are caused largely by "health coverage that is getting skimpier and skimpier," said Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Health care bills would limit out-of-pocket costs | McClatchy

How does this prove that the CBO is wrong in their analysis of health care costs?

 

[Chris]

When the CBO mentions "medical technology", here is how they define it (from the link):



You are right, technology by itself doesn't make you healthier, although that really is not the topic of this thread. Exercising and eating right are the best ways to stay healthy, which has nothing to do with a health care system.

Advancements in medical technology have improved many people's lives and have actually saved lives. Perhaps you think we should not have developed the following medical technologies, listed in the CBO link:

Revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease
Renal Replacement Therapy for Kidney Failure
Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplantation
Neonatal Intensive Care
Joint Replacement
Diagnostic Imaging



[Sarcasm on] Yes, you're right that is ALL it does.[Sarcasm off] Only if you think the items I listed above and the many other advancements in medical technology have not provided any significant value to anyone.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

The healthcare companies don't want you to eat right and exercise.

Please explain how your response here has anything to do with my reply to your statement about medical technology.

Medical costs have a lot of components besides technology.

Other courntries control costs and have the same technology we do.

 

[Meister]

Technology doesn't make you healthier.

It just makes the medical supply companies richer.

Okay, that is just stupid. MRIs allow you to know what is going on inside without surgery. The list goes on and on. Your drivel means we should stop using tools whort of a rock? God forbid money changes hands when it involves health care. In your case, no amont of technology is going to cure stupid.

No amount of technology is going to make you healthier.

Health is about lifestyle, and it is the main thing missing from our healthcare equation.

Idiot.

So we need the government to force us to live a healthy lifestyle? Just like Bawney Fwanks?