SAME SECTOR DIFFERENT PATIENT

On January 12 of this year (2017) The Economist published an article based on the research of American Pet Health Care (Also) Uniquely Inefficient? (by Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein and Atul Gupta). Their premise is as follows:

“Digging through household survey data, the authors discovered that between 1996 and 2012 spending on pet health care actually rose faster than it did for humans, by over 60% compared to 49%. With the caveat that their sample size is very small, spending on health care in the last months of life seems to tick up for pets as well as humans.” (Team, 2017)

They mention that the spending increases a sector that is currently on a free-market where there are minimum regulations and “unlike humans, regulation in the pet health-care market is light, and fewer than 1% of the scritters are insured”.

Have you ever wondered how the healthcare industry would function without the medical insurance companies?

If we use the information provided for this same sector, but focus on our lovely animal companions, it shows improvement under a free market. This is currently a big issue as many people look to medical insurance as a “right” though it is not, since it is not a human right. It is hard for these people to imagine this industry without the insurance agencies, or if they do so, it is with a paternalistic idea that the government provides them this service. However, we can compare the health industry of our lovely animal companions with our own. They are under a free market, mostly, though insurance companies now want to offer coverage for them as well.

The first Argument Is That Rates Will Be Sky-High with Insurance

This is not really the case; veterinarian rates vary according to their skills and expertise. Like lawyers, accountants and other professionals have rates according to their expertise. We enjoy a great variety of rates and services provided by these professionals. They can also charge more by specializing in specific services. Currently doctors bill health insurance companies for lots of unnecessary procedures and tests, mostly to beneficiaries of the government health insurance which will increase the premium payment and consequently increase the “voluntary” tax contribution.

Another Argument Is That Health Services Will Only Be Available for The Wealthy

This is not true. We can choose between the most expensive veterinarian or the sabbatical charity veterinarian that provides the services for a more affordable price. In most cases, this is the same veterinarian because, after all, he/she did study animal health because of a commitment to the well-being of the animals. Why is our human health care system not emulating this? The purpose of a doctor is his commitment to public health; however, they need to charge a fee for this service.

Current Problem

Under the current state of healthcare, we are being limited and regulated by this sector. Why? We are told by our health insurance companies which doctor we can attend, the medicine that we can take and even the pharmacy where we should request our medicine. Yes, once you are a beneficiary of your health insurance that you selected you will be limited to their list of providers. Sometimes the medicine that a licensed health professional determines that you need will be swapped for a generic one if such needed medicine is not on your coverage.

However, under a free market, an individual can select from whichever provider he/she desires to attend and pay for those services accordingly. Our friendly companions enjoy the luxury of such benefits.

Service & Supply

The service you are paying for has been affected by all the previously mentioned scenarios. This sector is not just satisfied to regulate who will attend to your health, the medication you should take, but they also require the doctors spend a certain amount of time with each patient (15 minutes approximately).

To add more to this scenario, we can see that the pet care sector has grown more in relation to ours from the point of view of its availability. There are currently more veterinarian establishments and offices than physician establishments and offices. As is pointed out, both markets have similar spending, however, only one is showing growth.

With all this being displayed, our pets are not under the same regulated market and requirements. Ironically, they can enjoy some great services provided by their health care professionals, with no pressure of timed visit, they acquire their exact prescribed medications and most of the time their doctor themselves provide the pharmaceutical, and if not, you could find the same at the nearest pharmacy of your preference. It looks to me that we have lots to learn and emulate from this parallel sector in which the only differing variable is the patient and its regulations.

References

· Einav, L., Finkelstein, A., & Gupta, A. (2016). Is American Pet Health Care (Also) Uniquely Inefficient? National Bureau of Economic Research, 14.

· Team, T. D. (2017, January 12). Human and pet health-cost trends are strikingly similar. The Economist.

· Picture: http://easy-anatomy.com/things-you-might-not-know-about-being-a-veterinarian/