High Cost of Healthcare in the United States Essay Example

Several Americans say that healthcare in the United States is unreasonably priced.  According to a study conducted by Investopedia, the United States has spent 3.8 trillion dollars on Healthcare in 2019 alone, which equates to about 11,500 dollars per citizen (Probasco).   Healthcare in the United States is believed to be so expensive due to factors such as rising drug costs, excessive treatment, wide variation in the cost of treatments due to a lack of federal regulation.  Although there are many factors that contribute to America’s healthcare epidemic that can’t be helped, some of the main factors can be taken care of easily. Healthcare in the United States is unacceptably overpriced due to several factors such as over-treatment, overpriced medical equipment, and interference from private insurance companies.

The cost of healthcare in the United States is a widely debated topic. According to a survey taken by PEW Research, over 83% of Americans agree that the cost of quality treatment is currently unaffordable (Milanez). As of right now, healthcare makes up a total of 90% of the United States’ spending (Probasco).  Throughout history, healthcare prices have risen slowly. The rise of high healthcare costs is believed to have begun during the Great Depression. During this time, citizens were having a difficult time paying for hospital services as a result of the failing economy (Tompkins). This upward trend has continued to grow over time.  The cost of healthcare has seen an overall increase of 4.6% from the previous year, which has raised the total sum of money spent on healthcare per year up to 3.8 trillion dollars (Amadeo).  Expensive healthcare has been a problem for an exuberant amount of time, and it’s disconcerting that considerable action hasn’t been taken yet.  The amount of money being spent on healthcare is excessive, and could be put to better use to solve other problems .  

One of the contributing factors to the high healthcare costs is overtreatment and unnecessary prescription of drugs. A study conducted on millions of Medicare patients found that a large majority of the treatments and tests ran on patients were essentially unnecessary (Gawande).  Two of the tests that were found to have been performed the most without valid reasoning included magnetic resonance imaging scans and computed tomography scans.  Magnetic resonance imaging scans and computed tomography scans both range from 400$ to 5,000$.   The Institution of Medicine reported that wasteful prescriptions and tests accounted for nearly 30% of healthcare spending (Gawande). The study also found that virtually every family in the United States has been subjected to some form of overtesting/overtreatment (Gawande).  Excessive inappropriate treatment can be attributed to three main factors: misdiagnosis, overcaution, and desire to make a profit.  Overtreatment is not only cost-ineffective for both hospitals and patients, but it’s also physically dangerous and potentially harmful. 

Private Insurance companies and hospitals play a large role in the cost of healthcare in the United States. The first insurance company in the United States, the Blue Cross, was established in 1932. The company was established to help those who were struggling to pay for hospital services due to the poor state of the economy at the time. After the Blue Cross was established, hospital prices began to rise and this affected those who were uninsured (Tompkins). After the establishment of Blue Cross, Medicaid and Medicare were established a few years later. Medicaid and Medicare started out providing an ample amount of payment but eventually decreased the amount of financial assistance offered due to the passing of the Balanced Budget Act. As healthcare prices have continued to rise, it has caused American citizens to rely more on private insurance companies for assistance. The reliance and use of private insurance are believed to have increased the demand for healthcare and as a result of this, the price has increased as well.  

A large sum of Americans believe that healthcare in the United States is reasonably priced as some people see healthcare as a privilege.  Most arguments against healthcare being overpriced focus largely on citizens needing to be more self-reliant.  Some argue that by working hard and saving up enough money for health, an individual should be able to afford healthcare easily.  It has also been argued that the price of healthcare in the United States is reasonable because insurance companies are available to pay for certain medical expenses and many companies are willing to provide insurance for their employees.  Although both of these arguments are true in certain cases, in most cases they’re simply not realistic.  Saving up money and working hard can work for some people, but this approach doesn’t acknowledge those who suffer from chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.  According to officials from the National Library of Public Medicine, 45% of the population suffer from at least one chronic disease (Ragupathi).  Treatment costs of chronic diseases can range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.  The average American makes around 56,000$ a year, therefore most Americans cannot afford these hefty medical expenses through hard work and saving alone.  Furthermore, even though there are many forms of insurance available it’s not easily accessible for everyone.  A study found that low wage workers are way less likely than higher wage workers to receive employee health insurance, and that could cause issues (Kurowska).  Those who live in poverty also have a difficult time paying for private insurance.  

In conclusion, due to several factors such as overpriced medical equipment, interference from private insurance companies, and overtreatment, the cost of healthcare in the United States has risen to completely unacceptable rates. This problem could easily be solved with the implementation of simple measures such as avoiding inappropriate treatments, finding a way to avoid reliance on insurance companies, and taking less of a business approach to healthcare in general. The healthcare prices are unjustifiably high and something needs to be done for the sake of the safety and wellbeing of American citizens.