Health Reform

So everyone in the government is talking about health reform. Obama's on a mission to complete what the Clinton's could not, making health care affordable and available to everyone. Well I believe a bit differently.

First off, why should health care be "affordable"? We are talking about something that is a good or a service provided by people who are highly educated and skilled. Shouldn't they be able to charge whatever they want for their skills? A reasonable person believes that actors make a lot of money, but will still shell out money to go see their films, why won't they pay money for a more valuable service such as health care? Not everyone deserves as a natural right to get health care provided to them. It isn't free to provide and the providers shouldn't be stuck with the bill because the government wants to force them to provide. Everyone who goes to school for a long time, studies and works hard should be given the opportunity to find the American Dream. The American Dream is just that, work hard and you can become successful and wealthy... not slack off and make no money and the government will provide (that's Russia's motto).

So one thing I keep hearing about health care being expensive is medicines. Yes, brand name medicines are expensive, but so are BMWs, Lexuses, and Mercedes. You do not need brand name medications to treat most conditions, the generic alternatives work pretty well. No, they aren't the top of the line, but we keep saying that Ford, Chrysler, and GM should stick around, so mid-range things should be something that are used by people who are just looking for something to get around. I know the car metaphor gets a little muddled when we're talking health care, but really it is very similar. If people, or insurance companies, aren't paying for branded medications, costs are lowered and most everyone saves money... meaning insurance premiums and copays are lower and money out of the pocket for consumers is lowered. I'm not saying there isn't a need for the brand name medications, but really, if you don't need them, why pay more for them? As for making the drugs cheaper/more affordable for people to take them, I believe that the drug companies should charge what they want for the medications and whatever the market will bear. They should charge huge amounts of money for their blockbuster drugs and make money off of them. Why? Because they've invested a ton of money, not just in creating, testing and marketing that drug, but in creating and testing hundreds of other drugs in the process of finding that one drug that does work. The estimate is that it costs over a billion dollars to bring one drug to market and only reserve the patent for 17 years. Is paying $200 for that drug really that unreasonable? Shouldn't they recoup their costs and make a little money in the process? I say they should because if they don't there is no reason for them to create new drugs, no reason for them to be innovators and medicine will be stalled in the current market and nothing new will be created for treatments for all the disease which are going uncured or untreated.

Where else should government focus on saving money if not on the high costs of drugs or doctor visits? Focus on utilization. Using health care to treat people who are ill is MUCH more expensive than keeping people healthy. Spend money on vaccinations, wellness, exercise programs, smoking cessation programs, healthy eating education. That will save billions of dollars in health care because people will not be sick! Have people visit primary doctors rather than going to the emergency room when they are ill. A visit to the ER runs upwards of $400 if they don't keep you there for anything or run any tests, compare that to an $80 doctor visit. Make people feel the urge to get and use their primary doctor by reducing copays at doctor's offices and increasing copays for non-emergent ER visits. The best way for the government to do this is by using Medicare and Medicaid as the starting point. Make a non-emergent ER visit cost $50, an urgent care visit $10, and keep the primary doctor visits at $0. You will see a drastic reduction in ER and Urgent Care visits. The government and medical system as a whole will save money and be better able to deal with the costs of treatment.

Health care is expensive and it should be, we want our best minds treating us, creating cures for us, educating us and keeping us healthy. We want those minds to be well rewarded for working hard and to be knowledgeable after going through much education. In short, the best should be rewarded like the best.