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Continuing our discussion from part 1, healthcare reform is a perennial topic because it touches everyone. We talk about the various ways that healthcare is delivered and paid for. We also look at the cost drivers.


  • Continuing from part 1
  • The cost of medicine
    • Expensive to research
    • Some are expensive/difficult to produce
    • Pharmacy benefit managers
    • Third-party payer problems
    • Many countries’ regulations limit costs. This leads to higher prices in places that don’t
      • Add that regulation, less medicines as costs of research is too high to research many
      • Reduce the cost of bringing to market through FDA could mean less safety in medicines
      • Require higher prices elsewhere and limits availability elsewhere
      • Better medicine company/academic/government coordination
      • Comparative effectiveness research
  • Improvements in public health
    • Federal/State coordination
    • Public health service
    • Tackling large-long term problems during normal times.
    • Tackle emergencies as they arise, such as the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Price Transparency and Fee-for-service
    • Fee-for-service consistently seems to raise costs
    • A patient cannot predict their costs
    • Hospitals and doctor’s offices can’t tell you up front what things will cost
    • Insurance companies have agreements and hold the cards
    • Solutions:
      • Require transparent prices for the whole treatment
      • Allow for other models such as subscription or fee-for-treatment
      • Make this information publicly accessible in a standardized format

References

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