Why is Healthcare So Expensive in the US?
Written by Hanya Awan October 31th 2021
Healthcare worldwide is expensive and can be a priority for most countries as most families struggle to maintain the costs for their health and well-being. Some nations may have low-cost or zero-cost healthcare, and some countries may have high expenses to purchase healthcare benefits and medicine. The United States has an exceptionally high rate of expensive healthcare than citizens are used to, and has a high cost for healthcare compared to other countries around the globe. According to Dr. Harlem Krumholz, a cardiologist and professor of health policy at Yale School of Medicine, “almost everything is more expensive here.” He was referring to how the healthcare system in the U.S. has a distinct system from other countries that charge patients for the services they receive. Another contributing and most problematic factor to these high costs for citizens is the fact that hospitals and companies that provide and charge healthcare have more power and status than one might estimate they might have. These companies and institutions have the ability to keep costs exceptionally high. A local study recently discovered that private insurance companies paid almost two and half times more than Medicare could have paid for the same medical service at the exact same facility.
While companies are charging exceptionally high for medical care, there are only two main companies in the U.S that offer medical care and insurance. This fact makes it unpromising to the nation that the costs will eventually lower down as they have been increasing for the past few years and patients have no power to demand lower costs. “We keep approving more and more mergers that raise costs significantly,” Balber said. “Then these hospitals buy up all the private physicians. And then the profit motive is streamlined all the way down to your primary-care doctor”. This unchanging cost will only make it more difficult for families to receive consultations, since they could not afford them.
According to CNBC, studies have recorded that about 22 percent of the population has missed a consultation because they could not afford it. This number is severely high compared to other nations that have an average of 11 percent of the nation’s population that could not afford healthcare and consultations. Americans continue to have the lowest cost coverage since it was discovered in 2016 that 10 percent of the U.S. population did not have health insurance. While other nations had most of the population covered for health insurance. This report increased more awareness and doubt of the healthcare system the U.S. has to offer to its citizens and families struggling.
The healthcare system needs to be a priority, especially during the pandemic and with the increasing infections of COVID-19. The government should devote fewer funds to labour since the cost of labour, pharmaceuticals and administrative organizations seem to drive most of the spending. However, the main issue relies on the fact that despite the level of spending, the majority of the citizens remain uncovered by insurance.
Works Cited
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www.cnbc.com/2018/03/22/the-real-reason-medical-care-costs-so-much-more-in-the-us.h tml.
Boston, 677 Huntington Avenue, and Ma 02115 +1495‑1000. “Understanding Why Health Care Costs in the U.S. Are so High.” News, 6 May 2020,
www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/understanding-why-health-care-costs-in-t he-u-s-are-so-high/.
Hohman, Maura. “Why Is Health Care so Expensive? 5 Reasons Bills Are Higher in the US.” TODAY.com, 22 Sept. 2020,
www.today.com/tmrw/why-healthcare-so-expensive-united-states-t192119. “Why Does Healthcare Cost so Much? | Blue Cross Blue Shield.” Bcbs.com, 2010, www.bcbs.com/issues-indepth/why-does-healthcare-cost-so-much.