Getting Out Of Reach

In America, it has become a battle to earn a high paying job to cope with the expenses of a typical American. It has become even more of a battle for some people to afford medical prescriptions to keep healthy. Health becomes a crucial issue when discussed among people. No matter what, at one point or another, everyone is going to stand as a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. The bottom line is Americans are paying excessive amounts of money for medical prescriptions.

Large pharmaceutical industries are making big profits on medications because they charge high prices for profit. These pharmaceutical companies are overcharging for medications that are essential to maintaining the health of patients. Having such a high cost for medication prevents patients from receiving the care that they need. This may result in patients resorting to desperate measure such as stealing and other illegal acts. The pharmaceutical industry need to reevaluate their ethical standards because the way that these companies are going about pricing their drugs is preventing patients from living a health life.

Associates everyday life and survival suffers from working at Walmart. The average employee makes 25% less than the average retail worker. “Anthony Goytia earns $9.60 an hour which gives his family 12,000 dollars a year to live off of. They rely on state run health insurance and food stamps.” Communities that allow Wal-Mart into their town get tax breaks and low cost financing as well as grants from state and local government which in turn further promotes the problem because even though jobs are created they are not jobs anyone can sustain a family on. Walmart is the largest American corporation and the owners are among America’s richest families.

Prescription drugs even exceeded the rapidly rising inflation rate for all other medical services. They now represent at least 10% of all the medical costs in the United States.1 Why are the prices so high? Some critics of the drug companies argue that the larger firms are ripping off the American public, are dishonest and, in some cases, unsafe. On the other hand, there are health care workers such as doctors and their supporters who claim that research and testing for drugs costs money. This supposedly justifies their prices for their products.

Health care and prescription drug costs, whose escalating prices have caused many Americans to go without adequate medical care. Health care is one of the most controversial issues in the news right now. The co... ... middle of paper ... ...one the rising costs of health care costs is going to overwhelm the U.S. economy. Works Cited HEALTH: MEDICARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Dean Foust, 6-28-04, Business Week MEDICARE: ISSUES IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY, By: Jonathan Oberlander, Feb. 2001, Journal of Health Politics AN UNHEALTHY ECONOMY, By: Paul Barr and Jeff Tieman, 11-29-02, Modern Healthcare MENDING MEDICARE, By: Bruce C. Vladeck, Spring 2000, Issues in Science & Technology EFFECTS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH ON HEALTH CARE AND THE ECONOMY, By: Herbert Pardes, Kenneth G. Manton, Eric S. Lander, H. Dennis Tolley, Arthur D. Ullian, Hans Palmer, 01-01-99, Academic Search Premier HEALTH CARE REFORM IN THE 1990S: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS AND THREE PROPOSALS, By: Robert F. Scuka, Sept. 1994, Social Work

The US government spends almost twice as much per citizen on healthcare compared to other developed nations but comparatively lags behind drastically in key areas such as infant mortality and average life expectancy (“Kane”).This disparity is the result of an antiquated, bloated, bureaucratic and corrupt healthcare system that gives insurance companies and individual doctors far too much power. This system results in millions of lost consumer dollars, increased deficit and an unhappy populace. In response to this crisis, President Obama proposed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which aims to condense and reduce the old system, eliminate much of its bureaucratic clutter, and expands coverage to all Americans. Although his plan is quite solid, it runs the risk of dying during implementation due to the intense controversy it generates. The current Health Care crisis originated due to several key underlying causes.

Approximately 81 branded drugs expired 2010-2013 ( ) including 30 blockbuster drugs each previously generating over a billion in sales annually. This recent loss of pharmaceutical sales is impacting the drug company’s p... ... middle of paper ... ... the challenges will increase in the prescription drug market. Pharmaceutical companies will seek federal grant and private funding to offset the cost of research and development essential to new drug development. Academic and federal research facilities will increasingly be valuable R&D partners. Policies to reduce the patent approval process in America will be emphasized and international policy on pharmaceutical industry patents will increase in significance with United States focus on ensuring American companies remain competitive.

Making drugs legal will reduce massive amounts of money spent on enforcement every year. The MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) estimates that marijuana consumers cost taxpayers more than $7 billion dollars annually (MPP). Year after year, money is thrown away trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs into our country. When one drug lord is caught, two show up somewhere else to take their place. For every drug bust, four more make it through to the United States.

Privatization and monopoly of the medical system make medical pricing lack of transparency, and hospitals and pharmaceutical companies enjoy huge profits. Anderson Cancer Center in 2010 the turnover of 2.05 billion US dollars, the profits is up to 531 million US dollars and the profit margins are as high as 26%. On the one hand, these big interest groups use the money to buy politics. On the other hand, they buy media and elite groups and use public opinion to mislead people. Second, universal health care is facing the challenge of traditional ideology.

(Ponnuru)This is an issue that no one but the government can let us know what's really going on at the moment, but results are always popping up as misguided quest or funds being lost. Healthcare needs to step up their game because time is really being wasted. Half of the 50 million people in the U.S are currently uninsured. The new healthcare laws were intended to expand health insurance coverage, but one trade association warned that it will end of driving 60 million manufacturing workers out of coverage supplied by their employers over the next decade unless it was fixed before that occurs.(Newton-Small). Companies offered health coverage to their employers but certain laws prevented them from giving some benefits, forcing them into something that is called a one sized fit's all system.