medpundit |
||
|
Thursday, April 25, 2002"Prescription drugs, medical devices and other advances in health care were the biggest contributors to a 13.7% rise in US health care costs last year." It also noted other important contributing factors: "The aging of the population, greater media coverage of new treatments, increased attention to prevention and diagnostics, and the move away from less-expensive managed care is generating greater consumer demand for medical services, the report said. At the same time, expenses for class action lawsuits, malpractice premiums and other legal costs as well as government-mandated benefits are on the rise." It's those last few factors that are particularly nettlesome. They push up the cost of health care for all of us, even those of us who don't demand all that much from the system. Our legislatures, if they really wanted to do something about rising healthcare costs, could make a huge leap forward by enacting tort reform and minding their own business when it comes to what insurance companies should and shouldn't cover. posted by Sydney on 4/25/2002 07:35:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|