Why Is Health Care So Costly?
The rising cost of health care is the result of many things, including the following: • New Medical Technology and Prescription Drugs: The treatment of illnesses is now high-tech. The new drugs and surgical therapies developed within the last decade greatly improve the quality of life and prolong life for patients with procedures such as organ transplants. And diagnostic tools, like a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, make diagnosing conditions easier. All this new technology and procedures contribute to the rising cost of health care. New drugs are developed to improve the treatment of many conditions and to give patients hope of recovery. In addition, new drugs sometimes replace an older, less expensive drug. These new drugs benefit patients with cancer, heart disease and other conditions. Without some of these new drugs, patients face a certain death. Drug companies invest a lot of money in the research and development of new medications. Once a drug has FDA approval and is
