Model MMPA healthcare
pdf
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Arizona State University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
102
Subject
Medicine
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
6
Uploaded by GeneralMolePerson1956
Money or Health–Choose
Imagine being denied access to a life-saving drug because of your low income. Rationing
medicine in order to save money. Putting a price on your health and life. High drug prices
plague the US market, where the average drug costs are 250% higher than other countries, as
stated by Kathleen Doheny, an independent journalist specializing in health and fitness. This
is the case for most privatized healthcare institutions and often leads to Americans either
going into debt or not having access to proper healthcare. To rectify this issue the
government must cap the prices of these drugs and put the lives of Americans over the free
market.
Introduction
Unaffordable health care threatens the health and lives of low income Americans. As drug and
treatment costs in the US continue to rise, it’s becoming further out of reach for many American
citizens. Data from a US government survey suggests that 150,000 to 320,000 travel out of the
US for healthcare reasons annually, most often because of the high costs associated with
treatments in the US. For those who do seek treatment in the US, many end up in debt and are
forced to take out multiple loans to cover the costs of treatment. Any form of heart surgery will
usually cost well over $100,000 in the US and even common surgeries will cost upwards of
$10,000. Especially for those who already can't afford health insurance, and even for those who
can, these treatments are out of reach and are asking for money they don’t have.
This is especially the case for necessary drugs in the US, where prices are inflated to
unreasonable extremes. The average cost to produce insulin, a necessary drug for those
suffering from diabetes, ranges from $3 to 6$ for a single vial. This is true for most countries and
they all sell insulin at around $10. However, the US greatly inflates that price to $98.70, as
shown in a paper published by RAND, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Thousands of US citizens suffer from diabetes and are forced to pour thousands of dollars into
procuring monthly doses of insulin. They are forced to pay a ransom for a drug meant to keep
them alive.
The Problem
"It shouldn't have
happened," Smith-Holt
says looking at her son's
death certificate on her
dining room table in
Richfield, Minn. "That
cause of death of diabetic
ketoacidosis should have
never happened."
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of diabetes stemming from a lack of insulin in the
body. This is however
completely avoidable. So then, how did Smith-Holt's son die from this very
complication? The answer is simple, they could not afford it. In fact he died just a week before
receiving his pay check. This is one of many instances where an avoidable death resulted from
an inaccessibility too medication due to high prices.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010 by President
Barack Obama and it completely overhauled the current healthcare system. The objective of
this bill was to provide some form of healthcare coverage to all Americans. This was done
through the individual state governments and insurance companies, as it set minimum
standards for healthcare coverage in both cost and quality. One of the most effective clauses
within the act required larger businesses to provide health coverage to full time employees.
There are also insurance plans offered through ACA for more reasonable prices. This was an
effective solution that provided healthcare to thousands of uninsured Americans. However,
even with the implementation of the ACA there are still many who don’t qualify for ACA’s
coverage.
America is not the only country with an inaccessibility to healthcare and other countries have
came up with their own solutions to this problem. Universal healthcare, also known as health
reform, is a system meant to provide healthcare to all. This system has been adopted by many
countries and has been proven effective. Although each country’s system is different, they all
achieved similar results that improved the health and lives of their citizens. Health reform
makes healthcare free for everyone, funded largely through general taxation. This has been
extremely effective in the UK with the implementation of the National Health Services (NHS),
making all english residence entitled to free public healthcare.
Attempts to Solve the Problem
"Our chart (compiled
with OECD data)
illustrates, U.S. health
spending per capita
(including public and
private spending) is
higher than it is
anywhere else in the
world, and yet, the
country lags behind
other nations in
several aspects such
as life expectancy
and health insurance
coverage" -Statistica
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
The fastest and most effective solution to making healthcare more affordable is the implementation
of a market cap on prescription drug prices in the US. This would prevent drug companies from
inflating their prices and regulate the drug market. This is a fast-acting, short term, solution that
would make drug prices much more affordable as well as reduce hospital costs. However, Steve
Lieberman suggests, in an article published by Health Affairs, that "lowering high U.S. drug prices will
make investing in drug development less attractive for private capital, leading to fewer new
medicines coming to market". This is a valid concern that would have many long-term implications.
To prevent this, incentive for drug innovation through government subsidies is a viable solution and
the infrastructure is already in place.
A long term solution to unaffordable healthcare in the US is the utilization of a Universal healthcare
system, also known as health reform, which is a system that provides healthcare to all registered
citizens. This system has been adopted by many countries and has been proven effective time and
time again. Although each country’s system is different, they all achieved similar results that
improved the health and lives of their citizens. The US has the means to implement this system and
this solution has already been proposed numerous times. However, the proposal has been shot down
every time. This has been largely due to the age old question, who will pay for it? The most obvious
solution, that has been implemented by multiple countries, is a generalized tax. This is a tax on goods
and services purchased by customers. This is one solution. Another solution, more fitted to
America's economy, takes advantage of the tax brackets that increase or decrease depending on
one's income. This would prevent low income families from paying more for their healthcare and put
more of the cost on those who can afford it.
Solutions
"Universal Healthcare
is an umbrella term that
socialized medicine and
single-payer fall under;
socialized medicine and
single-payer systems
may be implemented in
an effort to achieve
universal healthcare"
Health Force Center at UCFS
With healthcare inequality being such a big issue in the US, Americans must ask the
question, why is nothing being done? Why are completely preventable deaths occurring in
one of the most prosperous countries in the world? The answer is simple: the government
has turned this into a political issue that has become so heated that they avoid the topic all
together, disregarding the will of the people who are most effected by this problem. To
rectify this issue the government must cap the prices of these drugs and put the lives of
Americans over the free market and understand that healthcare is not a privilege but a
human right.
Conclusion
Citations
Chambers, Arthur. "Trends in U.S. Health Travel Services Trade." USITC
,
https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/executive_briefings/chambers_health-
related_travel_final.pdf. Accessed December 28, 2021.
Doheny, Kathleen. "U.S. Drug Prices Much Higher Then in Other Countries."
WebMD,
https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/news/20210129/us-drug-prices-much-higher-than-in-
other-nations. Accessed December 28, 2021.
Irving, Doug. "The Astronomical Price of Insulin Hurts American Families."
RAND Review
,
https://www.rand.org/blog/rand-review/2021/01/the-astronomical-price-of-insulin-hurts-
american-families.html. Accessed January 14, 2022.
Lieberman, Steve. "Balancing Lower U.S. Prescription Drug Prices And Innovation."
Health Affairs
,
https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20201123.804451/full/. Accessed
February 12, 2022.
Reynolds, Stefani. "We're a world away from universal healthcare–for now."
The Hill
,
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/573594-were-a-world-away-from-universal-
healthcare-for-now. Accessed February 20, 2022.
Thorlby, Ruth. "How does universal health coverage work?"
The Commonwealth Fund
,
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-
center/countries/england#:~:text=The%20majority%20of%20NHS%20funding,
NHS%20services%20as%20private%20patients. Accessed February 22, 2022.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help