Unsustainable Living: Health Care Costs

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/11/19/1213721/
health-care-spending-benefits/?mobile=nc

Although it seemingly not be even remotely connected to the environment, I would like to bring up health care costs as an unsustainable behavior. After all, health is connected to our daily lives and has the power to influence many other decisions. At any level, weather it be at the individual level or a larger level, if a person or group of people is unhealthy, this issue usually takes precedence over all other issues at hand. It is this tendency that pushes energy and water conservation and issues, global warming, and issues of the like to the back burner.

With the rate of health care costs rising exponentially, total health care costs in the United States reached  $2.6 trillion in 2010, tenfold of what was spent in 1980 (1). Regardless of the public opinion of the new health care laws, it is obvious that something needs to be changed, especially since most Americans probably will not be able to afford healthcare if costs continue to rise as they have. With almost a $7,538 per capita spending rate per year for each U.S. citizen, cost does not necessarily correlate to healthy nation; just consider the U.S.'s reputation of super-sized meals and issues of chronic diseases(2). 

http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/oecd042111.cfm

So what are the driving the costs of healthcare? A source suggests the following are the top ten behaviors influencing rising costs (3):


1) Fee-for-Service Reimbursement
2) Fragmentation of Care Delivery
3) Administrative Burden
4) Population Aging
5) Chronic Diseases & Lifestyle Choices
6) Medical Technology
7) Lack of Transparency in Cost & Quality Information
8) Market Competition & Consolidation
9) Medical Malpractice, Fraud and Abuse
10) Trends in Clinical Specialization and Patient Access to Providers

If the attention of the American people is focused on only one issue, there is little chance that other issues can be effectively and efficiently resolved.


Sources:
1) http://www.kaiseredu.org/issue-modules/us-health-care-costs/background-brief.aspx 
2) http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/oecd042111.cfm
3) http://healthsprocket.com/hs/node/6845