Get at root cause of health care costs

Health care reform is essential, but among all the wrangling about who pays, less is being said about the root cause of the high cost.

I would like to know why I get charged $16 for a pill in hospital, when I can buy 200 for the same money in a pharmacy. I have no choice; they will not allow me to bring my own. Why did my wife get charged $75 for a digital photo of her eyelid? I could buy the camera for that. More than $1,000 for a night in a simple hospital bed with no extras and minimal attention, when I can get a week in a good hotel for that.

And wait for it ... $400,000 for three weeks in special care, including a delicate operation (but how much does the surgeon get?). Where does the money go? The same services cost much less, and are just as good, in many other countries. These charges are outrageous; fix them and the "who pays?" issue will at least be easier.

While immediate action is needed, two long-term changes that would help are to minimize the debts incurred by doctors in their education and training, and the cost of malpractice insurance. As to the former, the federal government should provide scholarships to good medical students who would otherwise have to run up a large debt. As to the latter, there should be federally mandated limits on damages awarded in malpractice cases.

Allowing a jury, some of whom think the difference between a million and a billion is just one letter, to decide is asking for trouble, and that's what we are getting, and we pay for it.

Michael Albrow

Naperville