Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html
A man by the name of Michael Shopenn was in need of getting a hip replacement. His artificial hip was made by a company based out of Europe that had to be installed at their manufacturing center. Michael had to fly all the way to Europe to get his hip replaced. The reason for his need of hip replacement was because he had arthritis and could barely stand long enough to make coffee. He had health insurance, but his health care did not cover his joint replacement because it was caused by a pre-existing condition. He became desperate to find a solution to his problem that was affordable and convenient for him. The surgery would be over $65,000 which was about a third of Michaels savings at the time so he had to look elsewhere. He compared prices from all over the world and found that they were mostly the same price but cheaper anywhere outside the United States.
The reason for implant list prices being so high as well as them rising by more than 5 percent a year is due to a cartel. All hip and knee implants are made by only 5 companies that simply tweak old models and patent the changes as new products and continue to bump up the price. This is a commonality throughout the healthcare world, this existence of cartels or monopolies that are able to charge ridiculously high prices simply because they can. They do not have enough competition to make them charge anything lower nor is there a reason to in their eyes.
In my opinion this is why medical costs are so high is because manufacturers are more focused on how much money they can make by charging the highest possible price people are willing to pay. They manufacture implants to help people live a better life but are not making it affordable. They should be wanting to help as many people as they can, not focus on the money. Its all about helping others and making sure they are happy and healthy. That is my biggest take away from this article.
This was a great summation of the article. It's scary to think that only five companies manufacture all implants in the United States. I think we should have the government subsidize all implant manufacturing to make it a level-playing field for all patients that need implants.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you're coming from, Jason. American healthcare providers are more focused on revenues than patients served. They pretend to 'care' when they actually are only concerned with making money. I think we need to explore new incentive programs for healthcare providers, but such drastic changes to American politics are far off.
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