Financial pollution in the US health system

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/hphc-fpi030821.php

 

News Release 8-Mar-2021
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute

 

Financial pollution arises when exorbitant or unnecessary healthcare spending depletes resources needed for the wellbeing of the population. This is the subject of a JAMA Health Forum Insight co-authored by researchers in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School. The Insight was published in the March 8, 2021 issue of JAMA Health Forum.

The authors lay out the rationale for "financial pollution" as a metaphor to express the urgency of addressing wasteful health care spending and to guide innovative policymaking. Akin to environmental pollution, financial pollution is human-made, contaminates connected systems, remains largely invisible to many, and disproportionately harms vulnerable populations. The authors highlight approaches that have improved environmental pollution as avenues for reducing financial pollution.

Unlike the term "financial toxicity," which is defined as direct harm that occurs when patients must pay out-of-pocket for substantial shares of health care services, the authors contend that financial pollution is more widespread and insidious, indirectly draining the resources of families through increased health insurance premiums and taxes. This leaves households with fewer resources for education, housing, and child-rearing, ultimately causing a creeping accrual of harm to the population.


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