Expensive Medical Procedures

Why Are Medical Costs So High?

People who lack insurance coverage are less likely to seek treatment. Those who do seek treatment while uninsured are much more likely to seek care in emergency rooms, thus driving the cost of medicine even higher. A vicious cycle emerges.

Take the case of Titus Simonini, whose case has been brought to national attention by Orange County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. Titus has hydrocephalus and needs a silicon brain implant just to survive.

Each year, over 7.5 million lives are saved or improved by implantable medical devices. Yet, due to the threat of liability, 75 percent of suppliers of biomaterials used to make medical implants banned sales to U.S. manufacturers. Although the Biomaterials Assurance Assistance Act of 2000 attempted to resolve this, many medical device manufacturers have chosen to remain overseas.






Procedure Cost in US dollars
Open heart surgery $324,000
Heart transplant $287,000
Liver transplant $235,000
Heart/Lung transplant $210,000
Tracheostomy $205,000
Bone marrow transplant $186,000
Destruction of lesion of retina $153,000
Pancreas transplant $135,000
Heart valve procedures $133,000
Kidney transplant $130,000
Arterial bypass and shunt $110,000
Coronary artery bypass graft $97,000
Gastrectomy (removal of all or part of the stomach) $93,000
Small bowel resection $81,000