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Health Care Costs
1. Challenge of our Times:
Rising Health Care Costs
The biggest challenge we face in health care today is how to rein in out-of-control costs. Medical spending continues
to rise at a rate faster than overall inflation, with no end in sight. There are many reasons for the rise, but they all result
in health insurance premiums going even higher. And Americans are spending a bigger chunk of their household budgets
on health care, even to the point of being unable to afford the care they need.
WHY DOES HEALTH CARE COST SO MUCH?
Lack of transparency and consumer involvement in what health care really costs.
• Until recently, consumers had no practical way to compare hospital costs. Blue Cross’ transparency tool,
launched in 2015, shows a cardiac angioplasty with a stent costs $23,306 at one Triangle hospital and
$45,370 at another Triangle hospital.
• An MRI costs about $600 in one setting and $2,400 in another.
Paying for quantity, rather than quality.
• The traditional fee-for-service model creates incentives to overtest and overtreat.
• Some experts believe paying for quantity is the single biggest driver of rising medical costs.1
Too much waste and inefficiency in the health care system.
• Up to 30 percent of medical spending is considered unnecessary, duplicative or wasteful, according
to an Institute of Medicine report.2
Ongoing impact of chronic conditions caused by unhealthy lifestyles.
• Three-quarters of medical spending is associated with chronic conditions, including those caused by
unhealthy lifestyles.3
Increasing use of expensive prescription drugs without offset of medical expenses elsewhere.
• The cost of specialty drugs rose 31 percent in just one year (2014).4
• Just the three most expensive drugs cost Blue Cross $190 million to cover in 2015.5
• Price hikes last year for just four drugs added $12 million to our cost of health care – and your
premiums – whether you take those drugs or not.5
From 2011 speech: “The new health care reform law provides broader access
to health insurance, but it does very little to reduce costs. That must change
if Americans are going to get the health care they deserve…”
Brad Wilson
President and CEO
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina