Isn’t it shocking?
Sackville told Healthcare Dive, "It's really hard to see why one country -- the payers, insurers -- should be paying three or four times more than in another and the answer must be failure of competition." He added, "Some people are getting away with prices that are far too high and there's no clinical justification for the variation."
"Competition is not working," Sackville told Healthcare Dive. "The market's not working because if it was, no one would get away with charging $17,000 [for a day of hospital care]."
The report put a focus on the lack of provider competition and consolidation.
"I think the reason these prices are very high stem mainly from the fact that providers are very good at pushing out prices. Perhaps there is not real competition operating between them in many states."
Isn’t it shocking? I have been writing and preaching about these inequities for years. Matter of fact moving our operation to focus on preventive care in other markets was exactly due to the reasons mentioned above. I am not saying that everything is hunky dory in the rest of the world quite to the contrary market condition and governments in these countries are much more restrictive than in the US and that is why you see this big price differentials. As it is quite obvious especially in the US when the ultimate payer for the services is not the consumer rather the insurer or government there will be no market conditions controlling it. Many times I wrote about the fact that in my many years of consulting for healthcare organizations the question from the providers was not of how much the item will cost but who he will pass the cost along too. As long the insurer was paying for it or government he had no concern for what he paid. The supply chain on the other hand is interested in getting the maximum dollar for its product rather the efficiency of the item. Why do you thing that the government clamped down on the pharmaceutical industries sale tactics? Or why do you think that suppliers have a clause in their contract to prevent customers even if part of the same chain to disclosed pricing of their products? If you are looking for a solution from the insurers or government it is going to be a long wait. The only solution to this problem is consumer engagement . But this will take also a lot of effort. Did you ever looked at a statement from a provider? I am in the healthcare field for 25 years and some of those bills represent a challenge even for me to understand. I bet that there are many in the healthcare field that could not give you an explanations on many of these topics. But as health expenditures are escalating and as most of this burden is going to be passed along to the consumer the reality will sink in to the industry and they will have to address them . A lot of this operators will adjust or will be left behind . This era is the era of technology and consumer empowerment and the healthcare industry will have to wake up to reality or those who cannot adjust will be left behind just like history has taught as with the industrial revolution.