Excellent find, Red Wolf. I've tried to find the total cost of our nation's medical care myself. It's not easy to find. It's not even clearly defined in the Treasury budget how much is spent on Medicare alone. Entries in Treasury's monthly report mix and match different parts, and even appear to contradict each other.
This article gives a sum total, which very helpful.
If the sum total of Medical Spending is $2.7 trillion/year, that means about $18.5 thousand per employed worker/year. (Assuming a total employment of 146 million.)
I'd like to find out what the total pharmaceutical cost is as well. There is tremendous waste in this area. And it is very, VERY easy to reduce those costs.
Generics are available for almost every drug category. But physicians continue to prescribe the most expensive brand-name drug, instead of the generics.
Hear are some examples:
Cholesterol (medicines to
):
[/sup]) $86/month
2. Rosuvastatin (Crestor
®) $107/month
Generic:
1.Pravastatin (generic) $5/month
2. Lovastatin (generic) $9/month
3. Simvastatin (generic) $5/month[/ul]
Blood Pressure (Meds to
):
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) vs.
Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs)
*Both drug classes work through the same pathway and lower blood pressure through the same ultimate mechanism:
a) ACEIs reduce the
quantity of Angiotensin produced, which
reduces the amount of angiotensin bound to angiotensin receptors.b) ARBs block the
binding of angiotensin to receptors, which
reduces the amount of angiotensin bound to angiotensin receptors.ACEIs have a separate, independent, and beneficial side effect of reducing atherosclerosis -- which is NOT shared by ARBs.
[/sup]) $53/month
2. Irbesartan (Avapro
®) $54/month
3. Losartan (Cozaar
®) $54/month
4. Omesartan (Benicar
®) $49/month
5. Telmisartan (Micardis
® $56/month
6. Valsartan (Diovan
®) $59/month
(How many ways can you say "price-fixing"?)ACEIs
1. Benazepril (generic) $25/month
2. Enalopril (generic) $20/month
3. Fosinopril (generic) $27/month
4. Lisinopril (generic) $24/month
5. Quinapril (generic) $29/month[/ul]
These 2 drug classes are 2 of the biggest categories of drugs prescribed for Medicare patients. Close to ½ of Medicare patients are on at least one of these drugs. At least ¼ are on both. The switch from brand name Lipitor (Atorvastatin) to any of the generics (such as pravastatin), would save Medicare huge amounts of money. The switch from a brand name ARB to a generic ACEI would also save large amounts. (And the ACEIs are actually better drugs for prolonging life.)
I want to caution again about implementing any type of National Health Care plan that covers ALL prescription drugs. Anyone advocating that is seriously misguided. It will result in no improvement in medical care, but a huge increase in cost.