Current Health Care Economic issue - Prescription drugs - Essay Example

Current health economic crises in the United s Current health economic crises in the United s Medical innovation in the United States has generated some good and bad news in the health sector. The good news is that there is increased life expectancy for patients suffering from terminal illnesses like cancer, leukemia, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), liver diseases as there are more powerful drugs discovered and released into the market. These drugs often sold over the counter (OTC) as prescription drugs have gone a long way in ensuring better health care among American citizens (Mark, 2006).

This however comes at a grave cost to the government and the private sector as more human resource and funds are channeled into the health sector to facilitate these innovations. The paradox is that though there are more quality drugs produced and life expectancy prolonged, the results are that the government spends billions of dollars annually to keep the pharmaceutical sector thriving. This is occasioned by the fact that the patients need more of these prescription drugs year in year out creating a dependency chain.

So, the question is: who actually pays for this medical progress? Economists argue that despite Americans willingness to pay for health insurance premiums and the government doing its part by sinking the tax payers’ money into more research and innovation, the overall results are inversely related to the efforts in the long run. Drugs that derail hospital admissions, curtail proposed surgical operations signify pharmaceutical are an economical success in the short run (Mark, 2006). When these procedures are to take place later, however, these prescription drugs are purely a waste of resources due to the added overheads.

Regardless of the medical care inflation costs, pharmaceutical care economics is therefore a broad area with different approaches as per the diverse areas. For example, chronic illnesses will have different costs as compared to other illnesses.ReferencesMark, E. (2006). Health Care Politics And Policies In America. Missouri: Springfield Publishers.