The United States health care system is one of the most progressive of all systems in the world. The system has managed to integrate culture and gender diversity to ensure every citizen in the United State receives health care without discrimination based on their ethnic group or gender. Additionally, the system is also accessible by the minority groups and the poor individuals in the society. This is evident by the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare programs to accommodate more citizens and provide them with insurance cover to access healthcare across the country. The efficiency levels and effectiveness that have been associated with this system are factors that can only be admired, to say the least. Notably, the promulgation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 added to the gains made in the healthcare industry in addition to the already existing efficiency and effectiveness levels. As aforementioned, with the passing of Obama care, the disadvantaged groups in the society can now be able to afford healthcare which has always been a challenge during past regimes (Collins & Varmus, 2015). The Medicaid and the Medicare health covers have also been helpful to individuals whose income levels are not enough to provide sufficient and satisfactory care for them. In spite of all these advancements, however, there are challenges that have been perennially associated with the current healthcare system (Kramer et al., 2012). First, recent studies indicate that the spending in the health care industry has been on the increase in the last 30 years yet contrary to the expectations of many individuals; the health indicators have not been showing any improvements. There is a huge population especially the unemployed, homeless or without proper documentation who are yet to be covered or access free care even though the federal government spends millions of dollars in the healthcare sector. Additionally, to the middle-class employed citizens, there has been a massive outcry concerning the current health care system due to the economic implications it has on their financial status. It is evident that most consumers of health care from this group of persons in the society would rather buy private insurance to cater for their healthcare needs than depending on the deductions that their employers get from their salaries to cater for their insurance covers since they do not get the value for their money in comparison to the services they get when they visit a health facility (Brill, 2015). Such moves have seen many citizens receiving fewer wages from the services that they provide.
An emerging factor in the United States healthcare system is that despite all the efforts that have been put in place with the objectives of solving healthcare problems to the poor, the healthcare costs in the country are still on the rise. According to The Economist (2011), the cost of producing medical devices and pharmaceuticals in the United States and most European countries is very high. It is evident that most companies responsible for the manufacture of medical devices in use in the United States for instance General Electric Health and Medtronic explore other markets like China and India where they employ local technologies and experts in their manufacturing process. The outsourcing the materials, staff, machinery and other processes required in the production operation in these countries makes the whole manufacturing of these drugs and medical equipment cheaply. Additionally, the economics of scale works in favors of these manufacturing companies since they manage produce in bulk in these foreign countries and ship in large volumes hence cutting the cost of transport. However, when it comes to marketing such devices and medicines in the United States, the prices are exaggerated in comparison to the countries from which they were manufactured. The main reason why the costs of medical devices and medicines are high is based on the fact that most Americans are interested in high-quality care and as such, costs do not play a role in their choices. There is common notion that the more over priced a commodity is the higher the quality is the item in question. Such a realization, therefore, is a blessing in disguise to the companies responsible for the manufacture of medical devices and medicines thereby pricing their equipment very highly (The Economist, 2011). Hence, they are able to make supernormal profits at the expense of ordinary citizens of United State of American who have to dig dipper into savings to cater for the healthcare cost.
Secondly, the process of getting approvals for medical devices and pharmaceutical manufacturers to carry on with their trade is bureaucratic and tedious. As such, this move is seen as a way of closing out additional would-be competitors. The resultant effect of this move is that an oligopolistic market structure emerges translating to prices of the healthcare devices and medicines increasing. Such a move results in medical devices being expensive and making the healthcare process unaffordable. Notably, if the market was a perfect competition whereby any capable drug manufacturer was given a chance to enter the market and produce the prices will significantly reduce to the advantage of consumers. Additionally, to ease the entrance to this market, the laws ought to be revised to make them accommodative to more manufacturers in this market. Defensive medicine is another factor that makes medication be expensive. Carrying out unneeded tests by physicians to protect themselves in case a lawsuit ensues also adds up to the healthcare services being expensive. The approval process for a drug or medical equipment before it enters the market is long and complex. It involves the transition from one trial phase to another whereby each phase has its respective cost. By the end of the entire trial phase the overall cost is included in the retail cost of that drug. This implies that the patient will have to cater for these costs including the middle men, marketing and advertisement fees. Therefore, the end product reflects all these additional cost which push the health care cost beyond the reach of common citizens who are below the poverty index. There is a lot of loopholes in the American healthcare system which creates possibilities for litigations to occur. Such a factor, therefore, leads doctors to involve in unneeded tests so as to have a basis on which they can defend themselves. Consequently, it is the patients who are treated by these technologies that bear the brunt of the bloated costs. The implications that these high costs of medical devices and pharmaceuticals have on the health care system are directly linked with the morality and ethical aspect of the process. There is the misconception that, by drugs being expensive; they are more effective compared to the cheaper drugs. This is the reason why most chronic and killer diseases are very expensive to treat. A moral issue is evident in this situation in the sense that, the core objective of the healthcare delivery process which is to restore patients to their original state of health is overlooked (Guillemette et al., 2013). The primary focus of the healthcare providers is only on gaining profits from the process. As such, it is obvious that not all members of the society will be in a position to afford this type of medication. The core goals of providing care are lost from the moment a patient steps onto a hospital. Additionally, in the event that commercial ventures override public interest, then the concept of medical ethics is tainted since the key focus is on commercial purposes. The resultant effect of this move is that life becomes very expensive to many individuals. Secondly, by physicians carrying out unneeded tests medical tests and providing unwanted medicines to patients when trying to evade litigation processes, the chances of medical errors occurring are very high (Brill, 2015). Consequently, morbidity and mortality rates plummet thereby translating to patients not receiving the levels of satisfaction that they desire. As such, readmission cases are likely to increase in the process.
Thirdly, the high cost of medical devices and pharmaceuticals has got a direct effect on the consumers of health care products. The poor groups of individuals in the society who do not have any insurance covers end up paying inflated costs to the care provider whereas the insured group of individuals is affected in the sense that the hospitals having the sophisticated medical equipment and pharmaceuticals double or triple the bill with the intentions of achieving higher levels of profit. As such, the objectives of having a cheap health care system are not met thereby making life expensive. According to Guillemette et al. (2013), the utilization of the intrathecal drug delivery therapy in the provision of cancer therapy has proved to be an inexpensive method of addressing the condition compared to the conventional pain therapy. Additionally, the usage of the IDD saves cancer patients on the costs incurred in care provision compared to the CPT in the long run. This is a clear indication that with the invention of newer medical devices and medications, health care provision has become a very expensive venture in the United States. Finally, from the article ‘Myth: When it comes to drugs and devices, newer is always better’, a research done by Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) the usage of MRI scans indicated that even though newer scans produce better image quality and are also faster compared to the older versions of the technology, the diagnosis results from these two classes of scanning machines were no different (Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 2014). Moreover, the patient experience from their usage was no different either. From the foregoing, therefore, it is safe to say that it is not the age of medical devices and newer medicines that matter but rather the benefits that an individual will derive from utilizing such health care solutions. From the above discussions, therefore, I agree that life is supposed to be cheap. The fact that the manufacturers of medical devices and medicines are mainly focused on the levels of profitability that they will make compromises the main reason for providing health care to the sickly in society. There is the need for theses manufacturers in the United States and the European nations to borrow a leaf from healthcare products manufacturers from China and India in terms of the technologies they use in the manufacturing process and the prices that they set for their products. The current healthcare consumers are the biggest victims of the system which is evidently ripping them off. The intentions of providing care should be out of good faith and following medical ethics but not with the profitability objective in mind. Taking such efforts into consideration will result in cheaper living conditions both for the poor and the rich alike.
References
Brill, S. (2015). What I learned from my $ 190,000 Surgery.
Collins, F. S., & Varmus, H. (2015). A new initiative on precision medicine.New England Journal of Medicine, 372(9), 793-795.
Guillemette, S., Witzke, S., Leier, J., Hinnenthal, J., & Prager, J. P. (2013). Medical cost impact of intrathecal drug delivery for noncancer pain. Pain Medicine, 14(4), 504-515.
Kramer, D. B., Xu, S., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2012). Regulation of medical devices in the United States and European Union. New England journal of medicine, 366(9), 848-855.
The Economist. (2011). Life should be cheap | The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/17961922
