There are three things that affect the price of health insurance medical inflation, medical errors and the humans who use the system.
Medical errors, according to statistics, do seem to be going down these days and are now checking in at about the 20% range. “If that is the case, then by doing the math, it will tell us that 80% of the reasons for high health insurance prices are humans neglecting their health care and medical inflation, ” said Evan Tunis of Florida Healthcare Insurance.
The statistics came by way of the Department of Health & Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. What a shocking set of statistics they released, including the fact that potentially preventable errors during or after surgery may cost close to $1.5 billion a year. That’s $1.5 billion a year – a staggering number and one that should make any red-blooded American sit up and take notice.
Imagine what that kind of money could do if diverted into stabilizing the economy or was put back into the health care system. Fixing medical errors is chilling and really, those errors should not have happened in the first place. “This kind of an extra burden placed on an already overburdened system is just asking for trouble,” commented Tunis.
If one adds in the human factor to medical errors, as many Americans do not take care of themselves, the health insurance rates will continue to creep up every year with no sign of stopping. “It’s interesting to note that if there is a medical error caught, the hospital is obligated to fix the situation,” pointed out Tunis. However, they also try to bill the cost of fixing their error to an insurance company. Just how that is supposed to work is anyone’s best guess.
Death or injuries as a result of medical errors really isn’t a new problem. It seems to have been with us since the advent of hospitals. The problem is that not much seems to be done about it. Sure the health care system is way overtaxed with trying to care for everyone using it, and errors are inevitable. However, the fact that over 300,000 people a year lose their lives due to medical errors makes one stop cold,” added Evan Tunis of Florida Healthcare Insurance.
