One likely reason that medical care and insurance costs rise is that many things that were not possible in the past are possible now, but expensive.
Here is an example: the effective, but expensive, weight loss drugs like Wegovy (or drugs used off-label for weight loss like Ozempic and Mounjaro). Some employers have chosen to stop covering weight less drugs now that the new effective but expensive ones are available.
Iāve thought about that too. Sooo many people I know who have had knee replacement, hip replacements etc. That just was not a thing in my grandparentsā time. Heck, they didnāt even have as many options for pain relief.
Itās not the drugs or procedures per se. Itās that we charge WAY more than the rest of the world for comparable care. Israel and Germany for example charge roughly $80K for a kidney transplant. That will cost us close to half a million in the US with no better outcome. Weāve built WAY too much cost into our system by having non-profits that have to spend money in order not to book gains, building palaces that then need to be fed and maintained.
And hopefully youāre about to know one more. Currently sitting in the waiting room for Hās hip replacement. Surgery in 1 hour.
It sounds much easier now too. A friend was golfing in 2 weeks.
But oh the bills. What I thought was a routine blood test last month (which it wasnāt but still) generated $2000 worth of bills and 9 EOBs.
And hereās my rant for the day. We have a $5000 per person deductible. Everything else should be free. We have already spent $2500 on H and have $2500 left. Two weeks ago he had a $2000 bone test that made us prepay. We should only have $500 to go, but they havenāt filed yet. So the surgeon said we have to prepay the $2500 so I did that last week. But they havenāt filed so today the surgery center is making me prepay yet another $2500. I should get it back eventually but still. This is totally messed up. For most of my adult life I would not have had the funds to do this without taking every dime from savings. And even then it might not have been enough
Every time I hear the news touting the latest drug to slow the progression of Alzheimerās, I shake my head. Itās a horrible disease, but I donāt know that I would want to bankrupt my spouse to slow a disease that will do the inevitable eventually ā¦ and there wouldnāt be any money left to pay for assistance with my care. I havenāt heard the cost, but judging from the cost of more mainstream drugs, Iām sure it is out of reach for all but the richest Americans.
I know it!! My MIL has been in a slow decline for about 10 years. The last 5 plus have been terrible. We once had to pick up her meds and one was to slow the progression and I was thinking why? Maybe super early on, but really. She has not had a decent quality of life in many years.
Hopefully her suffering will be over soon. Itās a terrible, terrible disease
Thatās terrible on the pre-payment. A good portion of Americans would not be able to do that.
Sending good vibes for your husbandās surgery!
Thanks! The surgeon came back a few minutes ago and said it went well. Said his hip was terrible and he should feel much better. 30 years of standing on a concrete floor all day will do that I guess. But you wouldnāt know it was that bad looking at him. He hid it pretty well
Iām trying to look at the $$$ that at least I got double the points and itāll be a free hotel room someday. I heard someone ask to just pay a little now, so I guess we could have done that. They didnāt tell H that was an option and I didnāt ask. The hospital bone testing gave us a 20% discount paying in full so I was happy with that. Of course if their bill hits the insurance after the others it wonāt really matter
Itās just all a mess. Last week I made out a spreadsheet of every EOB and charge and what is supposed to be billed and what Iāve paid. Its a ton already and we still havent even gotten to the second oncologist yet. Hopefully by then itāll all be filed and known I donāt owe anything
And some/many of such diseases with expensive solutions paid by insurance are life-style relatedā¦
What examples are you thinking of here?
the links posted by UCB, for starters. And.
āSoaring obesity rates make the US the fattest country in the OECD. Overweight and obesity rates have increased steadily since the 1980s in both men and women. Three out of four people are projected by the OECD to be overweight or obese within 10 years.ā
There are plenty of studies on health care costs and lifestyle. For example,
Thereās a new dry eye drug that the company wanted to make āaffordable for everyone.ā Itās $800 per month. 
Yikes. Is that the āaffordableā priceā¦. or are you saying theyāāll find a way to make it cheaper?
That medical care tends to cost more in the US is not mutually exclusive to the invention of new procedures or drugs as causes of increasing medical costs.
An $80k kidney transplant is still $80k more than when it was when it was not possible, even if it costs much less than in the US.
Yes, but losing weight has more than ālifestyleā benefitsā¦there are significant data showing many medical benefits to losing weight (for those who are overweight/obese). I donāt know many insurance companies that are paying for those with normal BMI to take weight loss drugs, for example.
I have a problem with them using this particular drug as an example. This drug was designed to help diabetics. It has become the weight loss miracle drug. Because of that, the price is prohibitive, the drug is impossible to get, and the real people who need this drug - diabetics, canāt get it anymore. I know a diabetic who is in this position right now. Her doctor wonāt even prescribe it (although it would be her best treatment option), because of these cost and supply issues with this drug.
but why are they overweight/obese in the first place? What is the root cause (to use a popular phrase) of the US being the most overweight society in the OECD?
Far above my pay grade, lol. Thereās lots of data on that too. Spoiler alertā¦(most) people arenāt overeating because they are hungry.
Weāll see. Itās just rolling out. Theyāll figure out some scam discount card to keep patients from having skin in the game and gouge insurances. That practice feels good to us as individuals, but is a significant factor in ever increasing care costs.
Itās not a miracle drug. I take it for diabetes and havenāt lost weight. It does help my diabetes numbers.
I was getting 3 months at a time but now because of supply issues I can only get 4 weeks at a time. This costs my insurance company more (as far as I can tell) because 3 months cost about $850 but 4 weeks cost $550. I just read an article that people stop taking it because of the expense and the hassle (shot pain, cost, ordering it, side effects) and gain the weight back. Itās becoming clear that in order to maintain the weight lost, the drug must be taken for life.
The manufacturers were subsidizing the prescriptions, costing patients only $25/mo but when that program ran out (I think it was for 6 months per patient), then the full price of $800+ was charged and their insurance companies werenāt paying so they had to stop. Should insurance companies be paying for a maintenance drug if the person doesnāt have diabetes and doesnāt need to lose weight?