Here is How Much Healthcare Costs For Minnesotans

Many medical expenses in this country are out of control and are, in my opinion, completely unjustifiable. And to prove my case, I'll give you two examples.

#1: I decided to go to the doctor to get a small brown spot, checked out that I had on my head. I'm bald, so the sun has certainly shined hard on my head over the years. This small spot had grown slightly over the course of a decade or so but it wasn't too crazy.

My doctor wasn't concerned but wanted to set up an appointment with a dermatologist just in case. I said, okay. The appointment lasted around 20 minutes. And it took that long because the doctor had two medical trainees and asked if it was okay if they looked in on the exam to learn. The doctor looked me over and showed the trainees some things and in the end -- nothing. Everything was good. That appointment cost $1400, one of the most expensive appointments I've ever had, and they didn't do anything.

#2: My wife and my daughter had an appointment together and this was through a video call because COVID had hit. Their appointment lasted 10 minutes -- TOTAL. The cost of that non-visit visit? $400! And it was just a med check. I can imagine the medical people trying to cram in as many of those in an hour as possible.

Medical costs can get crazy for sure. So how much do we pay? Well, Weiss & Paarz conducted a study of healthcare costs over a lifetime for doctors and ER visits. The average person in Minnesota will pay just over $67,000 in their lifetime. Now before you think that's not bad. They said this:

...terminal illnesses, injuries, and chronic health conditions will significantly increase an individual’s estimated lifetime costs for healthcare. We excluded such increases from our analysis.

Here are some other statistics for Minnesota from the study:

• Average life expectancy: 81
• Number of ER Visits Per Year: 0.37
• Lifetime total of ER Visits: 30
• Visits Under 18: 6.5
• Average number of doctor visits: 230
• Average cost of a doctor a visit: $109.26
• Total costs for healthcare under 18 years old: $12,536.15 (-20.11% Below National Average)
• Total Costs for lifetime healthcare costs: $67,594.70 (-6.92% Below National Average)

Get more detailed info here. The irony of this study? It comes from medical malpractice attorneys -- one of the reasons medical costs are so high.

[Source: Weiss & Paarz]