New technologies driving health costs up
As I was researching more information on Neo-Luddism, this article popped up, citing an American senator who explained in January 2008 that technological progress is the major source of growth for medical spending. At what point is technological advance becoming a social problem? Should progress be slowed? How (and who) to explain a patient that the technology that could save his life is available but too expensive?
“Most analysts agree that the most important factor driving the long-term growth of health care costs has been the emergence, adoption, and widespread diffusion of new medical technologies and services by the U.S. health care system.
Other factors, including rising personal income, a growing share of health care costs borne by third-party payers, and the aging of the population […] appear to explain less than half of long-term spending growth.
Technological advances are likely to yield new, desired medical services in the future, fueling further spending growth and imposing difficult choices between health care and other priorities.
