Health care requires a significant amount of highly skilled labor. And education for such jobs can be expensive for the student who eventually goes into those jobs. Average student loan debt:
Because many health care professionals enter the labor force burdened with large amounts of debt, they need higher pay than in many other countries to make a sustainable living and pay off their debt. How much does this higher level of pay affect the cost of health care in the US versus other countries?
I think that the high level of student loan debt at least affects certain individuals’ choice of practice areas, e.g., surgery versus internal medicine or pediatrics. To continue the example, surgeons typically make more money the more often they operate. At least some physicians will be inclined to work more (i.e. operate more) so that they can make more money. Surgery tends to be more costly as a health care intervention than does routine preventive care, such as that often provided by internists and pediatricians.
In general, the salaries of physicians and other health care professionals are a small percentage of health care costs. 10% or less IIRC.
But the debt students incur affects the choice of practice, if the student has a choice based on his/her Step scores and GPA. (It’s pretty well known that one needs high scores to attempt to match in the higher paid specialties).
Doctors in Europe don’t earn as much but they don’t work as many hours either. They have short, regular hours and no call.
I wouldn’t say that they “need” higher pay to offset the debt. The higher pay is a market rate charged based on skill and education. Students take the higher debt because the salary is worth it in the end. An OBGYN, for instance, once they finish training and are in a regular practice, make enough to pay off student loan debt within a couple of years. Nurse practitioners, PAs, and nurses generally can get student loan forgiveness after 10 years because they work for a nonprofit/public organization (i.e. hospital).
You raise an interesting question. I think it’s troubling that some physicians are paid based on revenue generated. Seems like a bit of a conflict of interest. I think Mayo has it set up that their physicians are paid on outcomes. Thats what I would prefer as a patient
My physician friends who have the highest costs for visits also tend to have VERY high liability premiums. They need higher pay to cover those premiums is a sue-happy society. As a health consumer, it seems the “unfair” bulk of MY health care costs are not paid to physicians but for pharmaceuticals. And, I think that “Big Pharma” knows that we parents will go to the ends of the earth for our kids, which is why you see outrageous costs for drugs like Epi Pens, acne medications, and ADHD medications - drugs that have been out on the marketplace long enough that they should be much more affordable.
@BingeWatcher, I read All Nurses message forums. You would not believe the amount of debt many of today’s nursing students are taking on. There are people getting into $100K of debt simply to get a BSN, and WELL over 30K to get an Associates degree in nursing. Part of the problem are the for profit schools that popped up in the last couple of decades. Many of the students attending them could not get into public institutions (it’s still relatively competitive), so they go to these expensive schools, getting themselves into crushing debt. The many threads on this subject are just mind boggling.