1) 5-10% yearly health care cost inflation that is been going on for last 10years?
2) Or is it more billing for medical procedures such as heart stents or full colonoscopies that are not scientifically proven better than other less costly, less invasive procedures in significant minority of cases? Sure I’m a nutcase, so are these guys below:
“In fact, the inventor of the colonoscopy, Al Neugut, wrote an editorial in the JAMA this summer (2010) stating that he regrets inventing the colonoscopy. On Marketplace, Neugut said “If today, we were where we were in 1988, I would not institute colonoscopy based on the current evidence.”
The gold standard of preventive medicine may only be golden from the point of view of physician salaries.”
“Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science:
Much of what medical researchers conclude in their studies is misleading, exaggerated, or flat-out wrong. So why are doctors—to a striking extent—still drawing upon misinformation in their everyday practice?”
“In contrast, researchers who challenge a multibillion-dollar industry face intense pressures. A paper that cardiologist William Boden co-authored on the COURAGE trial (Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007 sparked widespread controversy. Both were randomized controlled studies that concluded that in patients with chronic stable chest pain, stents did not lower the risk for heart attack and death compared to medical therapy alone. Stents simply relieved their chest pain, Boden said.”
But why do hospitals burn research after reading? Could it be the the average $10,000 per stent procedure paid by insurance?
