Same Song, Different Verse: Why Health Care Is So Expensive In the U.S.---Hip Replacement Example

In Need Of A New Hip, But Priced Out of The U.S. by Elisabeth Rosenthal.  The New York Times.  August 3, 2013.

Great case study of why healthcare in the United States is so expensive.

Follow the above link, read the article, and test your recall with a quiz.  This article is well worth a significant amount of study.

(1)  An artificial hip costs about $_____ in the United States.

(2)  In the United States, almost all hip and knee implants are made by ________ companies.

(3)  Generic or foreign-made joint implants are kept out of the United States in three ways which are ___________________________.

(4)  How do the five companies increase brand loyalty?

(5)  How is price secrecy maintained thus preventing more competition?

(6)  Up  to _______ layers of vendors are  physician and patient for a hip replacement often resulting in price _____________ at each layer.

(7)  What is the industry perspective on why prices are high?

(8)  According to an orthopedist quoted in the article:  "(Manufacturers)  price that way because the _________."

(9)  In Belgium, the government determines the __________ preventing manufacturers   from selling an implant at ____________.

(10)  True or False:  The pricing policies of the Belgian government eliminates competition and American firms have pulled out of the country.

(11)  What impact does shareholder expectations play upon hip implant pricing?

(12)  Advances in materials science now allows the patient's own bone to _________________.

(13)  Socialized medicine countries such as ________________ have more hip replacements performed per capita than the United States.

(14)  How do patents contribute to price rises?

(15)  Many doctors say that modifications, such as the "female knee" make ______________

(16)  Warsaw IN is the trademarked "__________."

(17)  How does research and development expenditures in the orthopedics industry compared with the pharmaceutical industry?

(18)  How does "building a personal relationship  with the doctor" play a role in sales?

(19)  True or False:  The United States has a lower surgical infection rate than the United States.

(20)  True or False:  Orthopedist salaries are similar in the United States and Belgium.

(21)  Assuming a insurance reimbursement rate of $36,000, the total cost for join replacement surgeries in 2020 is projected to be _______________ billion.

(22)  True or False:  Medicare negotiates with orthopedic manufacturers resulting in lower prices.

(23)  What have been some of the efforts at cost reduction retirement systems, hospitals, and the Affordable Care Act?

(24)  What has been the political reaction to the tax on profits under the ACA to recoup some medical device manufacturers profits?