Why I’m Getting Out

Between my regular homework in ECON 201 and Espanol, working 32 hours a week, kids, etc. I have been working on a Healthcare group project for Econ. It is disheartening to see the stone cold facts about our healthcare system, and the stone cold facts about Universal Healthcare. As much as citizens of the UK complain about the wait for specialty care, most Americans on HMO's have to wait just as long for appeals, and the biggest fact of them all – 46 million Americans have NO coverage whatsoever, and the number grows with the rising Unemployment rate. But politicians must be careful as to what kind of Universal Coverage they impose.

I have had professors and colleagues ask me why I won't take the MCAT's or the PCAT's, and here is my answer. The American healthcare system is broken, and I cannot work in the field anymore and watch low income people continue to die. I can't do it anymore. Between my group project, and my discussion board posting this week, here are my facts to back up my feelings.

Country	% GDP Spent on Health-care	Average Annual Government Healthcare Spending	Average Annual Employer Healthcare Spending	Average Annual Citizen Health-care Spending
US	15.30%	$2,884	$1391	$2126
UK	8.30%	$2,371		$352
Canada	10%	$3,839		$1645
Germany	10.70%	$349	$1259	$1806
Japan	8%	$1,927		$431

Total Annual Average Spent per Person	Average Annual Gross Income	Average Annual Disposable Income	% AADI Spent on Healthcare
$6,401	$42028	$31410	6.8%
$2,723	$32602	$24612	1.4%
$5,484	$37872	$22512	7.3%
$3,414	$34895	$24078	7.5%
$2,358	$29882	$25184	1.7%

Working as a pharmacy technician for over 10 years, I have personally seen the demand for brand name drugs increase as marketing by drug companies has increased. I don't think I have bought a pen in the last 10 years, since we receive free pens and paper sporting ads for such drugs as Viagra, Vytorin, Advair, Nexium, Lantus, Celebrex, etc. on a regular basis. Many doctors practice what pharmacists call poly-pharmacy, meaning that the patient is receiving one or more drugs working against eachother, or causing other problems and symptoms. They prescribe them anyway. Why? Patients are demanding them because of an ad on tv or in a magazine, or because drug companies are giving the doctors kickbacks such as free continuing education classes, weekend getaways, ties, tee-shirts, clocks and watches. These sales are good for the drug companies and wholesalers, but are marginally small sales for the pharmacies themselves.

Insurance companies prefer to cover less expensive generic drugs that many times work just as well as "designer drugs" as we like to call them in the pharmacy. Pharmacies also rely on generic sales that they can buy low and mark-up significantly, while still maintaining a low sale price for the patient. The wholesalers make deals for bulk sales from the drug companies, then the pharmacies negotiate contract prices with the wholesalers. The pharmacies also negotiate contract payments with insurance companies based on the average wholesale price of each drug (which McKesson has been accused of falsely inflating), minus a contracted percentage. The more the pharmacy pays for the drug from the wholesaler, the less they make on the sale because of the pre-negotiated contract price from the insurer. The patient pays higher prices for a result they may have achieved from a much less expensive generic drug, but some doctors won't budge on the patient's prescribed drugs.

When American politicians promise to allow re-importation from Canada of drugs, they are taking away a pre-bought supply of drugs from Canadian citizens, creating a shortage of prescriptions in rural, non-border areas of Canada. The drug companies and insurers have a cash cow business in America that more than universal healthcare is going to solve. At least some companies are rethinking their marketing strategies due to politicians investigating just where their profits are being reinvested.

Basic Health Statistics
Sources: CIA.gov/the-World-Factbook and www.npr.org/news/specials/healthcare-profiles

U.S.A. – Population: 303,824,640 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $6,402
Life Expectancy: 78.14 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 6.3 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.6% - 18,229,478 citizens

United Kingdom – Population: 60,943,912 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $2,723
Life Expectancy: 78.85 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 4.93 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.2% - 1,218,878 citizens

Canada – Population: 33,212,696 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $5,484
Life Expectancy: 81.16 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 5.8 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.3% - 996,381 citizens

Germany – Population: 82,369,532 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $3,673
Life Expectancy: 79.1 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 4.03 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: 0.1% - 823,695 citizens

Japan – Population: 127,288,416 (July 2008)
Average Spent on Healthcare per Person per Year: $2,358
Life Expectancy: 82 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 2.8 per every 1,000 births
HIV Rate: less than 0.1% - less than 1,000,000 citizens