Dorian Johnson

HSCI 611

Professor Sarwar

10 November 2019

Health Care Is Money Driven

It is hard to believe politicians when they say that they want everyone to have the same

health insurance that they have. Time and time again the middle-class families are struggling to

pay for health insurance and unexpected medical bills. The government should intervene and

regulate the cost of pharmaceuticals because it will have a domino effect on the rest of the health

care system.

The health care system has lost sight of what the main goal is and instead is focused on

money. Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, physicians, nurses, paramedics, etc. all benefit

from the current state of the health care system. If physicians are constantly prescribing drugs to

patients that is a benefit for everyone that is involved. Pharmaceutical companies are making an

excessive amount for what the hospitals and their staff are providing to patients. "When

providers are paid for doing more, that’s what they do: They increase utilization of services and

ratchet up the cost of care without even realizing they’re part of the problem.”(Vox, 2017). This

model is called Fee-for-service and this is what benefits all the players that are involved with the

health care system. When doing more for patients is not benefiting the patient at all instead it is

benefitting everyone that is receiving a paycheck. Physicians and hospitals should be held

accountable and not every problem should be solved with drugs be given to the client.

Pharmaceutical companies if you begin to think about is driving the system at this point.

Services that are done for patients whether it be surgery or visiting a doctor’s office a drug is
usually given or prescribed to the patient. “Medicine has become a business. Physicians are

reimbursed for doing things not reimbursed to talking to patients."(California Newsreel, 2009).

This is not to say that every physician is in the business to make money rather than helping their

patients, but one has to realize that a physician has a family as well and have to take care of them

so money does play a role. We know that fee-for-service benefits the healthcare system and not

the patient but if physicians can talk to their patients and do what is best can go a long way.

Drugs are very addictive and if a patient can be treated without being prescribed drugs than that

is what should be done.

The next issue that is the cause of a very poor health care system in the U.S. is insurance

companies. If the government controlled the healthcare system they could dictate whether a bill

is too expensive and worth the cost. Private insurance, on the other hand, is beneficial in some

ways but does more harm than good. "Private insurance makes health insurance in America

expensive."(Vox, 2017). Private insurance gives you a list of what is covered and what is not

covered and if a service is done that is not covered then the patient has to pay the price regardless

if they agree with the cost or not. At least with the government, they have a say how much they

are willing to pay and negotiate with these hospitals. But for now, families have to elect to have

insurance because it is nearly impossible to pay a medical bill without insurance. "Insurance is

the main factor that determines the level of demand for medical services."(Shi & Singh, 2015).

Insurance companies know that Americans do not have a choice and if they want to go to the

doctors without having to pay thousands of dollars then they must have insurance and this is why

they dictate the system along with pharmaceutical companies. The most affordable option when

it comes to insurance is through an employer. "In, 2011, 89% of private health insurance

coverage for people under the age of 65 was employment-based."(Shi & Singh, 2015). Working
as an Eligibility Technician I have seen customers that do not qualify for Medi-Cal and their

employer does not offer health insurance their next affordable option is Covered California

website and the plans that are offered on that site are not cheap either. It is unfortunate but we as

Americans have no choice but to have private insurance.

It does bother me that private insurances and pharmaceutical companies dictate the

system. It is hard for us Americans to refuse to have insurance because we do not want to worry

about an overly expensive medical bill after treatment. The hope is that the next president in

office will make a difference and look into the problems that the healthcare system has. The

question I continued to be left with is what can we Americans do? Insurance is needed and we

can not just opt to have no type of coverage. What can we do?
 References

Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2015). Delivering health care in America: a systems approach.

Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Vox. (2017, November 30). Retrieved November 11, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=tNla9nyRMmQ.

California Newsreel. (2009, September 24). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=_jrNodP-dEs.