Medical ethics, a set of moral principles that govern the practice of medicine, imply that a medical practitioner needs to display consideration, compassion, and benevolence to their patients. This is a complex concept.

Compassion arises from humanitarian sensitivity, and that would essentially dictate that if I am unable to cover the expenditure associated with my triathlon recovery, then I should be provided that care free of charge. But, the reality of healthcare cost is slightly more complicated. We grew up being taught the basic ideology that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and somewhere someone has to bear the cost; well, I argue that if that were the case then there would be no concept of a soup-kitchen for the needy. That’s the key word here, the needy. People who have in excess could care less at losing an extra buck or two, but that same buck could mean the world to someone who is in need, even the difference between life and death.

There are generally five primary methods of funding health care systems: general taxation by the state, social health insurance, voluntary or private health insurance, out-of-pocket payments, or donations to health charities. In most countries, the financing of health care services features a mix of all five models, but the exact distribution varies across countries.

There are many factors, political or otherwise, that can influence the decision of a government, private sector business, or some other group to adopt a specific healthcare policy and the corresponding financing structure. For example, social health insurance is where a nation’s entire population is eligible for healthcare coverage, and this coverage and the services provided are “regulated”. In almost every jurisdiction with a government-funded health care system, a parallel private, and usually for-profit, system is allowed to operate. This is sometimes referred to as two-tier health care or “universal health care”.

By and large, current congressional efforts in the US focus on expanding access to health insurance but not on containing health care costs. It would be beneficial to understand why costs are high and increasing at an alarming rate. Also, what “cost reduction” measures are being debated in Congress as part of health reform, and what other measures might help to control health care spending?

Given the inflation over the last decade, the average annual premium for family insurance in the coming decade will exceed a whopping $30,000! If we take a look at some statistics in considering how expensive healthcare really is in our country, we will realize that we are annually spending around 16% GDP on health care; the next highest− spending country is France, which spends only 11%. We annually spend more than $7,000 per person on healthcare; Norway, the next highest−spending country, only spends $4,700. Between 1995 and 2005, the average annual increase in per capita health care expenditures in the United States was 3.8%; in Canada during the same period, it was only 3.2% and in Germany, only 1.8%.  Among some of the key factors that have collectively contributed to the rising costs of healthcare are an aging population, per capita GDP, and better quality of care.

The recession has all but broken our backs, and the government talks about higher debt-ceiling and progressive taxes. In this day and age of monetary carnage with medical inflation showing no relent, and higher education becoming the need of the hour, education and healthcare should be easily accessible to the hapless citizens, who have nowhere left to turn. I say, make these basic necessities accessible to them, the rest they can do on their own.