Causes and Effects on the High Cost of Health Care Essay

Causes and Effects on the High Cost of Health Care - Essay Example The death rates are falling. There are less barbaric wars and more peace in the world at large. People are now living longer. There are many reasons for this the first being that most people are more mindful of health and wholesome living and are therefore, spending a larger share of income on health care. People are now turning towards healthful products that low fat, zero calories, no sugar added etc. An average individual now takes out more time for exercising, walking and other sports. Many people have reduced smoking after learning about the risks associated with it In developed countries medical insurance takes care of much of health care expenses. However, critics argue that there is an ever-growing number of people (especially Americans) who are overweight or even obese, which may breed physical disorders and afflictions and finally acquire medical attention. Therefore demands in growing at a faster pace than supply of medical services. These and many more reasons have increased life expectancy overall. When people live longer, they put a greater burden on health care services. Apart from this high population growth rates also contribute as a load on such services. Therefore, governments and private health care providers are left with no option but to increase their fees, costs of drugs and other health related expenses. Moreover, a lot of investment is being made in this sector. ... EFFECTS Perhaps the biggest effect of expensive health care services is that many people will use home made remedies for diseases and avoid going to doctors who would prescribe expensive drugs and ask for costly medical tests to be performed first. In years to come this might show as an increase in death rates. In third world countries (including many African states) there is high infant mortality. Many of the countries with the lowest life expectancies, namely Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Central African Republic, Namibia, and Guinea-Bissau, are suffering from very high rates of HIV/AIDS infection, with adult prevalence rates ranging from 10 to 38 percent. The residents of poor countries will continue to suffer. As a result, corruption will increase. Existing health care practitioners may not wish to offer their services to anyone who does not pay the prescribed amount. Less qualified individuals with little or no experience might get more patients as their fees would be less. This will lead to an extremely inefficient health care system, with more people falling sick. CONCLUSION For the thousands of years of humankind's existence, lifespans were short and rough. It is only within the last hundred years that life expectancy at birth has risen substantially. The world's average life expectancy at birth was 45years in 1950 which rose to 61 years by 1980 and currently it is 67years. This shows that as people are living longer, the demand for health care is rising. This demand is by far exceeding the supply in many countries of the world, making health care too expensive for most people. High costs of health care will affect