Controlling Health Care Costs in the US

The major problem in controlling costs in the health care industry in the United States is that there is no competition in this market. Another major problem is that people do not know what their options are or how to make an educated decision from the options that they are given of which they should choose.
 
Since there is no competition in the market there is an increase in demands and because of this the prices of supplies will increase along with these ever increasing demands. Politics has a direct influence on these prices due to increased regulations as well as additional taxes. There are also many law suits occurring in health care which also strongly influence these prices. How is this possible? Well, these lawsuits influence the cost of malpractice insurance for medical practitioners. (B) 

The ever increasing health care inflation causes insurance companies to raise their premiums. In November 2013, JAMA or better known as 'the Journal of the American Medical Association' stated that the major reason as to why these health care costs within one year (year 2000 to 2001) was at 91% due to the increase in drug prices, medical devices, and hospital care. (B). Therefore, the over-regulation, excessive taxation, and a few additional issues are the source of the problem.  
 
Even more devastating is the fact that experts have informed the public with is that 1/6th of the U.S. economy is devoted to health care costs. These costs are about 20 to 30 percent of spending (aka. $800 billion a year) which is wasteful and inefficient. (A) 

So, HOW do we control these costs?

Health care, just like any other company needs competition to push prices lower. Since each policy must cover essential health benefits of which there are 10 of, insurance companies have no room to create innovative and customized polices for people. (B) There also needs to be a way in which citizens can be informed about their options and aid in deciding which is best for them and their families.

To make coverage more affordable to its citizens, there needs to be a greater focus on the main drivers of medical cost growth which include expensive prices for medical services, new costly prescription drugs, costly medical technologies, unhealthy lifestyles, and an outdated fee for service system that pays for volume rather than value. (A) Reducing health care costs include the promoting healthy living, improving patient safety, and promoting transparency on medical costs as well as medical quality, while reducing health disparities. These types of approaches will help to distance ourselves from a free-for-service system and towards a improved up-to-date health care system. (A)

Therefore, the solution to controlling health care costs in the US is avoid shifting the costs onto consumers, making them pay more out of pocket since the enormous waste and expense of the US health care system is NOT driven by consumers.  Medicare payment reforms, that have been recently changing the incentives that encourage the delivery of expensive, wasteful, as well as inefficient care. This will make even greater progress under the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. As stated before, these reforms include paying for value rather than paying for volume and promoting the use of integrated medical practices. Medicare for All would be another great way to controlling these costs. 

*None of these images belong to me, they were found on various tumblr sites! If any are yours please let me know and I will give you credit within the blog post. Thanks so much :)
Links: 
(A) https://www.ahip.org/Issues/Rising-Health-Care-Costs.aspx
(B) http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2015/06/29/u-s-health-care-costs-rise-faster-than-inflation/