Term Paper on "Healthcare Costs Are Out of Control"

Term Paper 5 pages (1265 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Healthcare Costs Are Out of Control

How can we as consumers get better value and reduce costs?

Prewriting for a Thesis recently visited the Emergency Room in a nearby hospital with my brother, who broke his arm. He was admitted for an overnight stay for observation. While his care was more than adequate, I was shocked to see the bill for his services. Although my family paid only a small amount (for co-pay), the itemized costs appeared completely out of line. I would argue that these high expenses are not justified, and that the primary culprit is the lack of personal responsibility to pay the bill and the willingness of the health care provider to increase prices.

There were four items on the bill which support the point. Ibuprofen was billed at $10 per pill. Administrative overhead was booked separately at $100 for the Emergency Room visit. The cost of the room for an overnight stay (12 hours) was $800. And the doctor's charge, which came separately, was $500 for a total of 1 hour of work.

Hospitals and physicians may argue that my brother's bill was high because they needed to provide care to indigent patients or those without insurance coverage. In addition, they may argue that the higher cost insures that patients like my brother would have additional, expensive services available should the need arise.

I can see that the healthcare system must support non-paying patients. With 20% of Americans not covered, that means that the average hospital may add a 20% "indigent tax" for those who cannot pay -- but these services were billed at a much higher rate than that. It also makes sense that a hospital must provide back-up services whose cost must be covered. For those who have relatively simple needs, perhaps a hospital is not the best place to have such treatment and pay such high overhead.

As consumers of medical services, we have a responsibility to question our bills, and to push for reforms that allow for greater transparency in billing. We should not simply accept high charges, and look for alternatives, such as emergency-care offices and HMO's, which may offer lower-cost care.

The reason that healthcare costs are so high in this country is that each of us, as consumers, does not feel the actual cost of the healthcare services we use. If we were to directly pay our insurance premiums, and a significant part of our medical services, we would be more discerning consumers.

Plan of Argument

The cost of healthcare is too high.

We as consumers bear the primary responsibility to control healthcare costs.

If we pay our own insurance premiums, and a significant part of our healthcare expenses, we will help to bring down the costs of healthcare.

Introduction

Why should a hospital bill $10 for an aspirin pill? Our healthcare expenses are too high, and we as consumers must do something about it. Our healthcare system has managed to insulate itself from consumer pressures for too long. We have ended up with a very expensive system, little choice, and an opaque system that does not reveal the value we receive for our money. We as consumers must re-assert our ability to choose in order to reduce healthcare costs, and improve the quality of what we receive.

A recently accompanied my brother to the emergency room of a local hospital for a broken arm. While I was pleased with the overall care he received, the bill for setting his arm and an overnight stay for observation topped $2,000! Medical professionals may argue that the amount paid reflects their need to cover the costs of overhead and the indigent, but no medical professional can defend $10 for an over-the-counter pain pill or $800 for the use of a room overnight.

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