The skyrocketing cost of healthcare is one of the most pressing issues facing America today. But what exactly is driving these costs so high?
A recent statement by Kevin Hern, Republican Study Committee Chair, sheds some light on this complex problem: middlemen.
He emphasizes that healthcare prices are rising because intermediaries have inserted themselves between doctors and patients, all in the name of profit.
These middlemen are supposed to help manage the system but often end up taking more than they give, driving up costs for everyone involved.
This concept of middlemen is something that many of us encounter in healthcare without realizing it.
It could be the layers of administrative work that bog down healthcare providers or the insurance networks that make getting care a labyrinthine process.
The people who originally entered the healthcare industry to help have found themselves wrapped up in a web of inefficiencies, costs, and bureaucracy—all fueled by a need for profitability.
Dr. Tien-I Karleen Su, a practicing rheumatologist, brings another dimension to this issue: the education—or lack thereof—that medical professionals receive about the business of healthcare.
When doctors complete their training, they are well-equipped to diagnose illnesses and treat patients but are not given the tools they need to navigate the business landscape of healthcare.
This creates a dependency on these very middlemen who end up controlling the economic side of healthcare, which in turn impacts patient care and treatment decisions.
Dr. Su’s perspective highlights a critical gap in medical education—one that can have long-lasting consequences for the quality and affordability of healthcare.
She calls for a significant overhaul in how medical professionals are trained.
Specifically, she urges residency and fellowship programs to incorporate lessons about the healthcare system as a business.
Knowing how money moves in the healthcare ecosystem could allow doctors to make more informed decisions and even push back against harmful practices.
Physicians are in a unique position to understand both the challenges and the opportunities within the healthcare system.
They see the impact of these systemic flaws every day—patients unable to afford the care they need, treatments delayed due to insurance approvals, and their own time increasingly consumed by bureaucratic paperwork instead of patient care.
Empowering doctors with knowledge about the healthcare system could be the key to making a change.
By understanding how administrative costs, insurance companies, and various other intermediaries impact healthcare, doctors could advocate for changes that genuinely benefit patients.
The issue becomes even more urgent when you consider that most doctors go into the profession to help people, not to deal with administrative headaches.
The fact that so many physicians are struggling with burnout today is not just a personal tragedy for those doctors—it is a systemic failure.
We are losing some of our brightest minds to a problem that, in many ways, we have created for ourselves by allowing a profit-driven model to overshadow patient care.
Dr. Su urges that residency and fellowship programs must integrate business training into their curriculum.
It’s not enough for future doctors to learn how to treat illnesses; they must also understand the system they are working within to truly advocate for their patients.
Medical students should be given the tools to question why things are done the way they are, and, more importantly, be empowered to create change.
Without this knowledge, the dependency on middlemen will persist, and with it, the rising costs of healthcare.
The healthcare system should prioritize patient outcomes, but it seems we’ve drifted far from this ideal.
Insurance companies and third-party administrators claim they exist to help manage costs and streamline patient care, but the reality is far different.
Often, these entities create more hurdles—delays in treatment, lengthy approval processes, and a lack of transparency—that make it harder for patients to receive timely and affordable care.
This is why many doctors like Dr. Su are calling for systemic change. If healthcare continues to be driven by profit rather than patient well-being, the issues we face today will only get worse.
The appeal from Dr. Su isn’t just about empowering doctors; it’s about reshaping the entire healthcare landscape.
The need for change is becoming more urgent as healthcare costs continue to spiral out of control.
Physicians must be active participants in this change, equipped not only with medical knowledge but also with a deep understanding of the system that dictates their practice.
They should not have to rely on middlemen who are motivated more by profit margins than patient health outcomes.
In a broader context, this problem isn’t just a “doctor issue” or a “patient issue”—it’s an issue for everyone.
Rising healthcare costs mean more people avoiding necessary treatment, more people struggling with medical debt, and ultimately, more pressure on an already overburdened system.
By focusing on educating doctors about the business of healthcare, we could take a significant step toward eliminating the unnecessary layers of bureaucracy that are currently costing us so much.
Middlemen have their role, but they should not be the ones controlling access to care.
As Dr. Su said, physicians need to be the key players in reshaping the healthcare system.
This isn’t just a call for better business education for doctors; it’s a call for all of us to rethink what healthcare should be.
The focus needs to shift back to where it belongs: on the patients.
Only then can we begin to address the systemic issues that are plaguing American healthcare today.