How Gas Prices Affect Your Health Care Costs

(ARA) - Rising gas prices are driving up the cost of nearly everything it seems, from groceries to medical supplies. But there is some good news for consumers. Some in the medical supply industry aren't passing escalating gas costs on to consumers just yet.

Although medical supply manufacturers have been particularly hard hit with soaring materials costs, many are still trying to keep costs down for consumers, says Belle Chou, president of Shen Wei, a Chinese company that makes medical exam gloves. The company has seen its material costs rise more than 25 percent in recent months.

"We are experiencing extreme increases in the cost of doing business right now," Chou says. "Concerns for the environment, energy depletions/resources, inflation and currency valuation have all impacted us."

These issues are impacting Shen Wei's customers as well, and gloves aren't the only medical supplies becoming more expensive. Surgical instruments, patient gowns, crutches, wheelchairs, even bandages are going up in price as well.

It's becoming more expensive for doctors to provide patients with the treatment they need. Due in a large part to the rising cost of fuel, the cost of medical supplies like gloves, syringes and tubing made of PVC, polypropylene and other oil based products are going up. Product costs have increased 5 to 7 percent on a wide variety of product categories, with some rising as much as 15 percent since last fall. Some suppliers are now feeling compelled to pass along those increases to customers.

"This is a very challenging time. End users need to know that we are not taking advantage of them. Businesses have not passed on all the cost factors to customers,"
says Chou.

Earlier this year, analysts warned travelers that gas prices would likely top $4 per gallon by the summer time. In many areas of the country, that prediction has already come true.

There are many reasons why gasoline prices increase. Typically the cause is a drop in supply and a surge in demand; but this time around, the increase is being blamed on the declining dollar. Because oil has traditionally been sold in dollars, investors in the rest of the world can buy more of it when the dollar slides, and OPEC members are more willing to push for a higher price, knowing that the dollars they receive aren't worth as much as before.

The price increase has been having a trickle-down effect on our nation's economy for some time now. Truckers are adding fuel surcharges to their bills, and retailers have reacted by raising prices on consumer goods; the airlines are cutting capacity, eliminating jobs and considering mergers; even the services industry is being adversely affected.

"It seems like a vicious cycle. Every extra dollar we spend on gas is another dollar we are not spending on groceries, vacations, consumer products or health care," says Dawn Duffy of AAA Minneapolis.

Courtesy of ARAcontent