High Healthcare Costs–Well, What Do You Expect?

July 16, 2010 · Leave a comment

Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M. Sc, MPH

We all know that the cost of providing healthcare has been steadily rising throughout the world over the last few decades. While there are many nations that have very little healthcare services, there are those with an over-abundance of such care delivery. People everywhere have begun to see healthcare as an entitlement, rather than a privilege. And why is this so?

After World War II, many governments quickly realized that a healthy workforce is a productive workforce, and as such, began to adopt various forms of subsidized healthcare to offer to their citizens. Most countries introduced a form of universal healthcare provided by a single payer, the government. These central governments for the most part decided what products and services they would offer to their people, based on what they could afford with their budgets. For some countries, this was very little, and only the privileged few, while other countries offered everyone some form of healthcare coverage. The United States was different. They rejected the notion of a government-organized healthcare system and opted for the privatization of healthcare. After all, the U.S. was founded as a free nation that broke the shackles of the British monarch. And besides, the medical profession did not want to be constrained by the tyranny of a controlling government ... read more »

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