Medical costs will always be expensive in the more developed
countries. It is just a matter who foots the bill.
In Britain, it is the government, but at the expense of taxing the
people more, and having an inefficient service.
In the US, group insurance is the thing.
In the past, and in less developed countries, healthcare costs is
cheap because modern drugs and technology, both of which cost lots
of money, is simply unavailable.
Paradoxically, our average life-span has increased significantly
even before the advent of things like MRI machines, top-of-the-line
surgery, or modern chemotherapy. The main factors are better
nutrition, simple vaccinations and improved living conditions. The
fancy new stuff does make an improvement, but only slightly.
Therein lies the problem for our government, trying to keep a cap
on healthcare costs (not sure, but I think our government spends
very little on health compared to the west), knowing we have
reached the stage that pouring a lot more money in would not reap a
lot of improvements in return.
Notice how our Health Minister is always harping on cutting costs.
Little mention about the government spending more of its budget on
health? The minister for law is a lawyer, but the minister for
health is an adminstrator.
