Health Care System Debate

Health Care System Debate

According to the Bitter Pill article (2013) , the US health care system is irrevocably broken. As much as the US healthcare is the highest ranked on spending, the hospital institutions and the health provider charges their uninsured patients more than other developed countries. The health care market of America has transformed tax-exempt non-profit hospitals into one of the most profitable businesses in different towns and cities. The entire health care institutions churn out bills that dominate the US economy which put more demands to the taxpayers to a degree that supersede other countries.

In this case, US citizens spend more than 20 percent of their gross domestic product on health care but the results of the health care system are worse than the outcomes in other nations. The US spends more on healthcare than the next ten biggest spenders such as France, Spain, Australia and many more. Additionally, the country lack drug pricing policies that determine drug prices and the cost-effective threshold of the drug. In this article, Sean Recchi is charged 13,702 dollars for the Rituxan cancer drug along with some basics like Tylenol, simple supplies and blood tests. He was charged 7 dollars each for Alcohol Prep Pad which cost 1.91 dollars for 200 when bought online.

Concerning Rachel’s post, I like how she condemns the health care system for not regulating the cost of health care in the United State. Indeed, the US health care system lacks policies that can regulate and lower drug prices of drugs and even determine the cost-effectiveness threshold. From this post, someone can easily compare the health care system of the US and the prices of drugs with other developed nations.

With regard to Elizabeth post, it is clear that the United States health care system needs to be broken. In her post, she has clearly indicated how the health care system is over-pricing American citizens to the extent of bankrupting them. Elizabeth supports her arguments using real examples from the article. I like how she brings out drug companies, lobbyist and hospitals as the major influencers costly drugs. It is important for the US health care system to formulate able regulatory policy to regulate drug prices to reduce burden to non-Medicare consumers

Reference

Brill, S. (2013). Bitter Pill.  Time ,  181 , 16-55.