Have you ever wondered why health care costs are so much higher in the US than in Canada? I was recently amazed to discover that a 60-day supply of a certain new Parkinson’s drug that my insurer was contesting because it cost US $ 800 sold in Canada for only US $ 128. Why would that be? In the interest of writing about it, I conducted an informal but robust investigation into the problem. Although many contributing factors can be named, such as the fact that the Canadian government discourages television commercials for drugs directed at the public, I discovered another deeper and supposedly more malignant cause that lies at its roots.
The solution did not seem to me when I interviewed 2 pharmacists and the hospital administrator. I also did not get adequate responses when I checked various social news websites. Then I ran into a lawyer friend who had served as a legislator for other reasons. He summed it up for me in one word: “lobbyists.” Let me explain. Well-funded third-party legislative negotiators, also known as. lobbyists, represent various collective self-interest groups of competing interests generally not represented by voters, and with minimal central oversight.
Think of it this way. Let’s say you have a fixed amount of healthcare dollars to spend on a coronary artery bypass surgical procedure, including professional fees, hospital stay, medications, and other charges. For example, let’s say we are in the US and Medicare will pay $ 30,000 for the total costs. Those same 30,000, if used in Canada, would be carefully distributed and negotiated primarily by the central government within an organization, and then with the additional help of another oversight office in each province, keeping their eyes on the cake at all times, And maybe even trying to get the total costs down to $ 20,000.
On the other hand, lobbyists work the American system from within. For example, doctors represent a pressure group. Hospitals represent another. Pharmaceuticals included a third large lobby (and there we will place medical supplies and technical equipment). Of course, we cannot forget the lobbyists of lawyers who criticize any attempts at tort reform that could otherwise put limits on the negligence liability system. And then there are the pay groups: private insurance and HMO.
Everyone is throwing money at legislators who deal with these lobbyists on a very personal level. Money is distributed through all kinds of “gray” channels. The lobbyists then sit in the Senate and House chambers to keep a close eye on how their bought-in political interests vote on key issues. Meanwhile, American adults, the average of whom cannot name the vice president, avoid CSPAN for “JLo.” Rather than attend, observe or even follow the House or Senate vote of their elected officials, millions are expressing more concern about why star candidate Pia Toscano was removed from “American Idol.”
No one looks more at legislative tillage in the United States than lobbyists. The result? Using our cardiac surgery example, that original $ 30,000 allocation can quickly rise to $ 40,000 as wealthy, lobby-lubricated legislators seek to pander to all of their special interest lobbyists. Because without those necessary donations and other grayer perks, their sleek TV campaign ads could hardly compete with consumer-driven pharmaceutical ads and, dare I say, American Idol.