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Motivation & Insight into Medicine 10
Why is health care so expensive in the United States and how would you address this issue?
Average Candidate Response
I think the main reason for expensive health care is the greed of pharmaceutical companies that patent and charge extortionate amounts for essential medicines. Additionally, health care expectations are much higher in the US compared to other countries worldwide.
Excellent Candidate Response
There are various reasons as to why healthcare is expensive in the US - one factor is the high cost of medication. With a wide range of private providers in the US, compared to for example a sole provider in the UK (NHS), the negotiating power of each provider in the US is reduced as well as reduced benefit from economies of scale. In order to address this, collective, central purchasing could be encouraged as well as possible regulation on the cost of medication; for example, in poorer or more deprived areas, local governments would be able to negotiate lower costs to suit the demographic and make healthcare more accessible.
Another component that plays a role in the significant cost of healthcare in the US is the practice of ‘defensive medicine’. This term is defined as the process of physicians recommending diagnostic tests or treatment unnecessarily, doing this as a process of exclusion to ensure that they are not accused of malpractice, thereby protecting themselves. This practice has seen an increase due to the rise in lawsuits against doctors, and can also encompass physicians avoiding patients with ‘difficult’ conditions, again to prevent action being taken against the physician. The ordering of such tests and treatment results in the high cost of healthcare in the US.
To try and address this rising issue, I feel that physicians should have some sort of protection against legal action - such as government subsidised medico-legal insurance (as is seen in other countries) as well as limits on the size of medicolegal claims against physicians. Ultimately, I believe that reassuring doctors that they are supported by the healthcare system would help to tackle the consequences of defensive medicine.
I think the main reason for expensive health care is the greed of pharmaceutical companies that patent and charge extortionate amounts for essential medicines. Additionally, health care expectations are much higher in the US compared to other countries worldwide.
Excellent Candidate Response
There are various reasons as to why healthcare is expensive in the US - one factor is the high cost of medication. With a wide range of private providers in the US, compared to for example a sole provider in the UK (NHS), the negotiating power of each provider in the US is reduced as well as reduced benefit from economies of scale. In order to address this, collective, central purchasing could be encouraged as well as possible regulation on the cost of medication; for example, in poorer or more deprived areas, local governments would be able to negotiate lower costs to suit the demographic and make healthcare more accessible.
Another component that plays a role in the significant cost of healthcare in the US is the practice of ‘defensive medicine’. This term is defined as the process of physicians recommending diagnostic tests or treatment unnecessarily, doing this as a process of exclusion to ensure that they are not accused of malpractice, thereby protecting themselves. This practice has seen an increase due to the rise in lawsuits against doctors, and can also encompass physicians avoiding patients with ‘difficult’ conditions, again to prevent action being taken against the physician. The ordering of such tests and treatment results in the high cost of healthcare in the US.
To try and address this rising issue, I feel that physicians should have some sort of protection against legal action - such as government subsidised medico-legal insurance (as is seen in other countries) as well as limits on the size of medicolegal claims against physicians. Ultimately, I believe that reassuring doctors that they are supported by the healthcare system would help to tackle the consequences of defensive medicine.