What makes health care so expensive these days?

Question

What makes health care so expensive these days?

Answer 1

Greed is a part of it, but another part of it is the people in our society who produce nothing except a bigger burden to the American taxpayer.  Welfare recipients and illegal immigrants go to hospitals, and if you go to a hospital they are bound by law to treat you, whether you have health care insurance or not.  Hospitals end up writing off billions of dollars a year for health care services provided to those who don't pay for it.  People are so quick to point their fingers at the rich, say they're evil, and claim they just want to stick it to the little guy, but the people who do nothing and expect everything to be handed to them get overlooked.

Answer 2

Health care companies over charging for everything.

Answer 3

I would say a mixture of greed, both by doctors and insurance companies, who both have extremely powerful lobbyists, and fraud against the ins companies, and indigent care drives up hospital costs for the rest of us.  I am just glad that I am healthy and able to pay my premiums that I get through work. Most employers are trying to eliminate this "overhead" by contracting out their "task oriented" jobs, or even worse, sending them overseas.  Yes, healthcare costs are a problem.  These are just a few reasons of many.

Answer 4

Pharmaceutical companies, the American Medical Association, overpaid contractors - but most of all, the lifestyles of the doctors.  Most of them have a huge mortgage payment and another one on their vacation home, plus an ex-wife or two (or husband, ha ha), a Mercedes payment and a raging drug habit.  Oh yeah - they are also trying to pay off 12 years or more of ludicrously expensive college. It will never get better, despite all the health rhetoric we have been hearing during the presidential campaign.  Nobody can fix it.  It's terminal, I'm afraid.

Answer 5

This is the question. It cost me 93.00 to see the doctor and all she did was hand me a cup to pee in. The test they ran cost 250.00 so over 350.00 for a bladder infection, this doesn't even include the antibiotices.

Answer 6

AIDS and all of the PC diseases.

Answer 7

Big question, mostly lame answers so far.  

Healthcare is very technologically intensive, especially hospital care. Most people demand the finest quality when their lives are at stake, and most hospitals, and programs that pay them, work to provide that. Go to a hospital and watch for a while.  You will see how intense even regular care is.  

About 60% of US healthcare is currently government provided, but most government entities pay at or below cost to medical providers. This is called cost transfer and it is very common in healthcare.

The result is that private plans must pick up the slack. Until very recently, most people never saw a medical bill, so they didn't know or care about costs.

However, recent increases in insurance premiums and higher deductible plans have suddenly made people aware.

Answer 8

The CEOs and executives keep demanding higher salaries and the boards want bigger profits.

Answer 9

Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer.  Selfish America.  Recently, someone wrote a book after extensive study to which country is happiest: Denmark- some citizens there pay up to 68% taxes, but FREE health care.  Canada is 13th happiest, US 20th, France 63rd.

Answer 10

1)   New, expensive technology.

2)   In America, no regulations over pharmaceutical prices.

3)   In America, health insurance companies take huge profits.   We need to get rid of health insurance companies and have socialized medicine.

4)  Credit cards give some people access to medical care that they can't afford otherwise.   With more people able to pay for care, the medical industry can jack up prices.

Answer 11

Greed. A seriously bloated administative system.

More greed. Too many specialists. (Go to a doctor's

office for a sprained ankle, and get sent to the ER- after

paying the doctor HIS cut, of course).