Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Ron Krupp, a gardener and author whose most recent book is “Lifting the Yoke — Local Solutions to America’s Farm and Food Crisis.”
“Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” is the title of a special Time magazine article on March 4 by Stephen Brill. Brill asks: Why do we spend 20 percent of our gross domestic product on health care, twice as much as other developed countries?
There are many “reasons” why health care is so expensive in the U.S. What’s clear from Brill’s article is that hospitals offer services at prices that bear little relationship to costs. Heart bypass surgery costs $9,319 in Argentina compared to $67,583 in the U.S. Hospital
The U.S. is No. 50 in infant mortality — nine spots below Cuba. The U.S. is No. 40 in life expectancy. Japan is No. 1, France No. 8, Canada No. 11, and Costa Rica No. 31. Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies are related to illness or medical bills.
CEO compensation is obscene — close to $6 million a year at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian. Forget the bonuses. Big pharma gouges the American public. The price of one Lipitor pill in the U.S. is the same as that of eight in France. Congress was lobbied by the health care industry to the tune of $5.36 billion from 1998-2012.
And what do we get for all of this? Here are just three results. The U.S. is No. 50 in infant mortality — nine spots below Cuba. The U.S. is No. 40 in life expectancy. Japan is No. 1, France No. 8, Canada No. 11, and Costa Rica No. 31. Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies are related to illness or medical bills.
To bring it all home — I just received an annual giving letter from Dr. John Brumsted, president and CEO of Fletcher Allen. I couldn’t believe I was being asked to give money to an organization that made $40.5 million in profits in 2010 and $48.3 million in 2009. Was some of that profit invested in offshore accounts? And what about the excessive salaries given to executives and specialists?
Has anyone seen the Fletcher Allen March 18 full-page advertisement in Time magazine? When I asked Fletcher Allen how much the ad costs, they didn’t know. When I asked them why they ran the ad, they said they wanted to let people know the good work at the hospital. When I asked them about the high salaries of administrators, they said they had to stay competitive.
Just to let you know another little secret which I’ve already let you know about. Nonprofit hospitals make huge profits. Fletcher Allen made on average 5 percent more than other hospitals across the country. Sounds like the University of Vermont and the banks and the insurance companies and … read the article in Time.