Is Healthcare So Expensive?

What is the Real Killer, Sickness or Medical Bills?

The healthcare sector of United States of America alone is a three-trillion-dollar industry, if this industry were its own country, it would be the fifth-ranked economy in the world (“Why is Healthcare So Expensive?”, 1). America has the fastest rising per-capita health costs in the world, and has continued to rise over the past thirty years (“Why is Healthcare So Expensive?”). One example of the outrageous costs of medical care in the United states is “Sovaldi” which is a one-thousand-dollar pill for treating Hepatitis, which adds up to anywhere from $84,000 to $150,000 for a course of treatment (“Why is Healthcare So Expensive?”). Medical care is outrageously expensive in the United States

because of prices set by bigtime pharmacies, the rapidly increasing number of people suffering from chronic illness/obesity, and lack of hospital transparency; the effect of medical bills being so high is a higher mortality rate caused by treatable sicknesses.
Bigtime pharmacy companies have been inflating prices on medicine for decades, causing high costs of medical treatment.

Several examples can be called upon for this issue, one of them being the recent cost increase in EpiPen prices. In fact, EpiPen prices have increased by four-hundred percent since 2011 (Davis, 3). EpiPens are lifesaving auto-injectors used to treat anaphylaxis (Davis, 1). This medicine’s price skyrocketed overnight, which is, in part, because Mylan (The pharmaceutical company responsible for EpiPens) no longer has any true competition (Davis, 4). EpiPens have risen from approximately $150 to around $600 per pen (Kodjak, 4). While pharmacy companies are partially at fault for the high cost of medical care in the united states, the rapidly increasing percentage of people with chronic illness and obesity is also responsible for high medical

costs.
Chronic illnesses and obesity have become serious issues among U.S. citizens. Studies show that approximately half of the population of the United States have at least one chronic illness, and in some cases more. Studies have also shown that over two-thirds of the adult population of the United States struggle with being overweight or obese (Merhar, 3). Chronic illnesses and obesity issues cause medical costs to rise because of the high risk of the health conditions that people with said health issues are subject to contracting (Merhat, 3). Adults struggling with obesity spend up to forty-two percent more on healthcare than healthy adults; this is because of the frequent health issues that obesity increases the risk of. Many Americans are not able to cover the costs of these health issues, which causes them to depend on their health insurance to cover the costs, which leads to higher health insurance costs for everyone (“Healthcare Costs Obesity”, 3). Medical costs for severely obese adults experiencing chest pains are up to forty-one percent higher, twenty-two percent higher for overweight patients, as well as twenty-eight percent higher for moderately obese adults; this is because of the higher risk involved in any procedures performed on said patients (“Healthcare Costs Obesity”, 6). Obesity is a major cause in the high costs of medical care in the United States, but uninformed patient decisions also contribute to the high costs of medical care.
There is no good way of figuring on costs for treatment options by which patients can understand.

Treatment centers often do not inform patients of the costs affiliated with the procedures until right before, or after the treatment has already been given (Merhar, 6). The lack of information available to patients prevents patients from making fully informed healthcare decisions (Merhat, 6). A study showed that fifty-six percent of Americans attempted to attain information on the costs of procedures that they needed done, which points towards a conclusion that it is not because of consumer ignorance that medical costs are so high, but the inability to find necessary information to decide upon cost effective medical care prices (Rizzolo, 6). Studies have also shown that consumers have found it “difficult and frustrating” to gain cost information for medical treatment (Rizzolo, 4). The lack of medical cost transparency is among the many causes of the high medical costs that effect the American population by causing a higher mortality rate of those who have contracted treatable illnesses.

The American population is greatly affected by the high cost of medical care in several ways. When compared to eighteen other countries, the United States is ranked last on the list for preventing deaths caused by treatable illness. This is because of the high cost of medical care preventing people from seeking professional attention on what could be a minor health issue (Hiebert-White, 1). The

United States is among the top five most developed countries in the world, this is an issue that is something that needs to change as soon as possible (Hiebert-White, 1).
Medical care is outrageously expensive in the United States because of prices set by bigtime pharmacies, the rapidly increasing number of people suffering from chronic illness/obesity, and lack of hospital transparency; the effect of medical bills being so high is a higher mortality rate of treatable sicknesses. As consumers, I encourage you to learn more about the high medical costs in the United States compared to other nations.. This is an issue that must not be ignored, this could mean the difference of life or death if you ever contract a severe illness.