The 12 Percent Problem

We are a nation of consumers. Almost 70 percent of our economy is based upon consumerism. From coupon shoppers, to Internet searchers, to barterers, to newspaper sales ad readers, to hagglers, we are a nation of consumers who almost daily exercise our right to find the best deal for our money. So why do we ignore our consumer roots when it comes to purchasing healthcare? According to Real Clear Markets Americans only control 12 percent of their healthcare dollar. The other 88 percent is spent on our behalf.

The current healthcare model is driven by the fact that most of us are only responsible for a relatively small co-pay of twenty or twenty-five dollars. Most of us are so pampered that the doctor's staff is responsible for sending in the paperwork to claim the remainder of their fee for services rendered. Most if not all of us rarely ever notice or care about what the doctor actually charges. We do notice and review our healthcare plan whenever it comes up for renewal. We may even opt to increase or decrease our co-pays or change providers so that we are not even responsible for making co-pay charges. So for most, as long as our co-pays remain manageable, we really don't care about what the doctor actually charges! And therein lies the problem. We act like responsible consumers for our co-pays and basically ignore the larger 88 percent of actual costs, which is the real cost driver. No wonder that healthcare costs are rising!

If we are to control healthcare spending, then we need to become consumers for the entire about we spend and not just 12 percent.