Why Is There So Much Talk About Cost in Health Care Today?

Abstract

The parents of our patients, and the patients themselves, are known in modern parlance as “healthcare consumers”. They need not look far to become worried about the cost of healthcare. Media reports in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom are ubiquitous about the high cost of healthcare. One US headline that caught our attention is, “Why health care costs are making consumers more afraid of medical bills than an actual illness”. Here’s another one: “U.S. healthcare spending to climb 5.3 percent in 2018: agency” (Abutaleb 2018). Total costs were expected to be $3.5 trillion, driven by an increase in Medicaid enrolment by the increasing numbers of seniors in society and by a general increase in prices of health care services and goods. One specific item listed will affect all ages and is particularly relevant in pediatrics: “higher drug prices and more use of specialty drugs such as those for genetic disorders and cancer”. A recent Canadians headline reads, “Healthcare costs have skyrocketed: study” (Stevenson 2017). An article on health spending states, “In 2017, total health expenditure in Canada is expected to reach $242 billion, or $ 6,604 per person. It is anticipated that, overall, health spending will represent 11.5% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP).” (Canadian Institute for Health Information 2017). In Britain, with an ostensibly publicly funded healthcare system, a headline reads “Private health insurance costs double in London” (Emery 2018). Another article claims, “Reality Check: Does UK spend half as much on health as US?” (Stevens 2018). The author makes two points: it is difficult to compare costs in one country with another and that UK health care is partly publicly funded and partly privately funded. However, even making these allowances, the US seems to spend twice as much per person on health care than does the UK.