A few years ago, someone decided it was a good idea to expand the access to health to all and everyone agreed. Almost every person had insurance. Then the rise began and all the plans seemed to drown in the ocean since almost every person couldn’t afford to pay for this privilege. Prescription copays have escalated to the point where they are, in theory, useless.
When people see that they have to spend their money on seeing a doctor, they have second thoughts. However, the people who need a medication have no other choice but to make a prescription copay in order to get what they need to stay healthy.
The Beginning
The creators of this copay system thought that if they put higher costs on healthcare, people would refrain to spend more money than needed and then everyone would be happier. They couldn’t be more wrong. By rising the prices, prescription copays was the first service that escalated into a huge economic whirlwind.
Then, they came up with the idea that rising the cost of the service high enough to make people not to use the service stubbornly but at the same time reasonable enough to make people get the medical attention.
Percentages
As years went by, if people needed to see a doctor they had to spend more than 20% of their own money rather than the insurance. And that percentage is just when seeing a primary care doctor. If you needed to go to a specialist to get a prescription, you’d have to pay more than 40% on the prescription copay. If that are the prices when someone is backed by company insurance, just try to imagine how expensive it is to people who have to pay totally for their insurance.
That’s one of the reasons why the number of people getting sicker is increasing dangerously, for they have to delay their treatment due to high costs and thus abandoning the doctor’s office for good.
Unknown Expenses
According to a recent poll, most of the people don’t know how much they’d have to pay for an emergency room or to acquire medications since the cost rate is constantly changing. Disinformation is at its peak on this matter. Nevertheless, they do know why the copays are important to maintain the good status of the health care system.
Copays and the Law
Some programs implemented by the government have placed some kind of wall that restraints the continuous rise of both the copays and deductibles since they tend to undermine people who need care. The bad news are that due to this “cap”, the effectiveness of the insurances have diminished since they weren’t receiving enough incomes.
That changed when the government decided to subsidize copayments for people who don’t earn enough to pay for it. They –the government- would have to make a socioeconomic census to determine whether they can afford the plan.
About people who earn enough money, they will have to pay.
Different types of Health Systems
It is “scientifically” proven that there are people who are more prone to suffer an accident and end at a hospital than others. In Canada, for example, they go to a hospital at any given day; whereas the Americans are more likely to end up in a hospital.
But why is it that Canada spends as much money as the United States does? That is because the government of the northern country decided to get rid of all of the deductibles and copayments and assume the whole health care system, facilitating everyone who needs to go to the hospital.
Improvements, is it possible?
Although it is far from happening, there are some arrangements to be made in order to everyone in the US get a wider access to health. Eliminating copayments would only mean that people would get crazy and go to the hospital without a reason, so the only choice they have for now is to make it cheaper. How’s that? It’s not that simple but it is possible: in the case of the prescription drugs, instead of brand-name drugs be it generic. Since they have the same effect it wouldn’t be a problem for the doctors to recommend this type of meds.
Also, they would have to find a way in which people sponsored by a company insurance that earn a lower income are included in this “protection” they give to other citizens. Not making it free as the first ones, but to make it easier for them to buy the medication they need.
Making it more expensive won’t improve anything, but it will make people quit their health care plans and just try to face the consequences of life. Copays are only useful when they are used properly and for the purpose they were created in first place.