From today’s daily health care news, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn at The Health Care Blog points out the connection between gas prices and health care costs:

Now comes a pharmacy connecting the dots between consumer spending categories: the interdependency of fuel and prescription drugs.

As the differences between price tiers of prescription drugs have increased over the past ten years, I’ve often asked pharma clients the question: what is the consumer’s marginal value of that $20 (or $30 or $50) co-payment compared to something else on their shopping list — say, a new electric razor for their husband, or that $95 jar of anti-aging skin cream?

Jane’s point is a good one. As rising gas prices squeeze our pocketbooks, we’re going to start thinking about foregoing medication or doctor’s visits (as is already happening) in favor of filling up our tank so we can go to work or putting food on our family’s table.

Still, I wonder. Rising gas prices are driving policy in Washington and media all over the country. Everyone is concerned - and rightly so. Still, here’s a chart of gas prices since 2001 (via Swivel):

And here’s a chart of national spending on health for roughly the same time period (via Kaiser):

Don’t they look similar?

The question that springs to my mind is, where is the media on this one? And for that matter, where are the politicians? All the talk lately has been about gas creeping up towards the $5/gallon mark. What about health care costs creeping up to 20% of our GDP?

There is no question rising health care costs are hitting American families just as hard - remember, the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America is because of health costs. And there is no question we can see what we’re paying - direct costs like premiums and co-pays are rising like everything else in the health care industry. Even worse, unlike gas, where we know exactly what we’re getting, the private insurance industry is giving us less and less services for more of our money.

Health care is the kitchen table issue this year, and even though the media isn’t fueling conversation around this issue like they are around energy, I believe those of us living in America understand how important health care costs really are.

As I argued this weekend, we have a health care crisis in this country, and we need to reign in costs to solve it:

To reduce health care costs, risk must be spread out - even if it is at the expense of profits. Premiums should be calculated based on a person’s ability to pay, not on their health history or age. Standard levels of care need to be established, both for preventative medicine and for treatment of the sick. A public health care plan must be created that is open to all to fairly share risk. Most importantly, insurers - both private and public - must not be allowed to drop customers or raise rates when health circumstances change. To do less is not fair, and as it is currently practiced, unfair sharing of risk is the main driver of health care costs in this country and one of the main reasons we spend so much more on health care than other countries.

It’s a bigger problem than gas prices. As Jane points out over at Health Populi, health care costs account for $0.17 of every dollar we spend. Gas and fuel costs account for barely $0.04:

You’re upset about the cost of gas. Yet, gas, fuel and energy consume 75% less of your spending than health care. Face that fact, and get smart!

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