Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Corporate games have ruined the health care system

Osmund Agbo, MD
Policy
January 8, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

There are certain paradoxes of life that are beyond the realm of rational explanation. To me, one of such is that a country that figured out how to defy gravity and conquered the cosmos has time and time again proven to be incapable of taking care of the most basic human need, namely: a commonsense health care delivery system.

U.S. spending on health care in 2016 was estimated at about 17.2 percent compared to just 8.9 percent for the OECD median. The problem is not only that we outspend those other countries, but on the whole, our access to health care and outcomes is worse, including in areas like life expectancy, infant mortality, asthma, and diabetes.

We spend $3.5 trillion or about 18 percent of the national economy on health care. A study taken under the auspices of the Peter G. Peterson foundation reported that the primary driver of America’s long-term fiscal challenges is the inefficient health care system. As alarming as those numbers are, I am sure this doesn’t come as a surprise to any of the players in the health care space.

Successive U.S. administrations over the years from both parties have come up with different kinds of proposals to tackle these crises. None has been able to garner enough bipartisan support and so none has enjoyed a successful implementation. Obama’s Affordable Care Act came close to answering some of the nagging questions pertaining to the protection of individuals with pre-existing conditions and routine physicals. Its Achille’s heel, however, was that even with the addition of about 20 million newly insured in the pool, it could not halt the skyrocketing insurance premiums and cost. The provisions of the Individual mandate was also seen by some as an infringement on the freedom of choice and had faced legal challenges. Worthy of note in all fairness is that there has never been any good faith effort from the opposing side to give it even a slight chance to work.

As a physician in active practice, every day, I seethe with resentment for being part of a system so grossly flawed. Yet there is little or nothing one can do personally to remedy the situation. Contrary to popular opinion, physicians are surprisingly the weakest link in this value chain.

Of all the drivers of high health care costs, the Big Pharma and insurance companies ought to take the cake.

This is not to downplay the ridiculous billing practices of hospitals, unnecessary duplication of services in addition to the monumental waste and abuse inherent in the system. Whereas most hospitals are set up as not-for-profits, that can hardly be said of insurance companies. When an insurance executive is making a seven-figure bonus, it’s very clear his loyalty lies somewhere else outside the interest of regular Americans struggling to pay an infinitely rising monthly premium. I believe it’s time to re-examine the value and role of this conscienceless middle man holding everyone else hostage.

When an American pharmaceutical company decides to mark up the price of a life-saving vaccine by 1,000 percent, no one should complain because we have a free market economy. When an insurance company refuses to sign you up because you have a “pre-existing condition,” it’s all good because both individuals and cooperate bodies should all have freedom of choice.

Oh! And you even have to take care of your auto repair before your insurance company finds a reason to jack up your premium for any little infraction. It doesn’t matter that they have been collecting your premium for years on end. I can go on and on and on, on how corporate bodies screw up average Americans every day with the active connivance of Washington lobbyist posing as congressmen.

Much has been said about the partisan gridlock in Washington and how the current generation of lawmakers have acted in a way to suggest everything else but love for the country. Whether it’s acting as a check to a president actively working to undermine America’s century-old institutions or standing up for the ubiquitous lobbyists working on behalf of corporate hawks, they have proven time and time again incapable of advancing the values set forth by the founding fathers. Every move is predicated on what can get more political mileage. Of course, every shameful self-serving behavior can always be explained away in their own version of what is good for America. It doesn’t even matter how asinine such justification seems.

I am not a fan of socialist medicine. On the contrary, I am a firm believer in the free market enterprise system. That said, there ought to be strong legislation and enforcing institutions in place to check the greed and excesses of men that continually find ways to exploit system weaknesses. I believe there are certain aspects of life so critical to be left in the hands of corporate shenanigans who see nothing beyond return on investment.

The cost of health care is so huge with politics so divisive that a wholesome approach is well-near impossible at this time — at least not with the current political climate in the nation. But we can adopt measures and legislations that can help address critical issues. One way to start, for example, will be a strong bipartisan effort to craft and enforce legislation to reign in on the Big Pharma and all the profit-driven insurance companies.

Osmund Agbo is a pulmonary physician.

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

My name is not "Med Student"

January 8, 2020 Kevin 17
…
Next

Don't ask me about your husband's flatulence if he's not my patient. Bring him in instead.

January 8, 2020 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
My name is not "Med Student"
Next Post >
Don't ask me about your husband's flatulence if he's not my patient. Bring him in instead.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Osmund Agbo, MD

  • How smartphones are stealing your focus—and what you can do about it

    Osmund Agbo, MD
  • Why brutal honesty often backfires and what to do instead

    Osmund Agbo, MD
  • Why friendships fade: Understanding the seasons of life

    Osmund Agbo, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can help or hurt your health care career

    Health eCareers
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Health care is not a service commodity

    Peter Spence, MD, MBA
  • Why the health care industry must prioritize health equity

    George T. Mathew, MD, MBA
  • Health care workers should not be targets

    Lori E. Johnson

More in Policy

  • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

    Carlin Lockwood
  • What Adam Smith would say about America’s for-profit health care

    M. Bennet Broner, PhD
  • The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis

    Michael Misialek, MD
  • Conflicts of interest are eroding trust in U.S. health agencies

    Martha Rosenberg
  • When America sneezes, the world catches a cold: Trump’s freeze on HIV/AIDS funding

    Koketso Masenya
  • A surgeon’s late-night crisis reveals the cost confusion in health care

    Christine Ward, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • When errors of nature are treated as medical negligence

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • Physician job change: Navigating your 457 plan and avoiding tax traps [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden chains holding doctors back

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Hope is the lifeline: a deeper look into transplant care

      Judith Eguzoikpe, MD, MPH | Conditions
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • From hospital bed to harsh truths: a writer’s unexpected journey

      Raymond Abbott | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • When errors of nature are treated as medical negligence

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
    • Physician job change: Navigating your 457 plan and avoiding tax traps [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden chains holding doctors back

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Hope is the lifeline: a deeper look into transplant care

      Judith Eguzoikpe, MD, MPH | Conditions
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • From hospital bed to harsh truths: a writer’s unexpected journey

      Raymond Abbott | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Corporate games have ruined the health care system
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...