Part 2: Why Are Veterinary Bills So High?
Welcome back to part 2 in our series about why veterinary bills are so high. Did you know that veterinary bills rise twice as fast as inflation. Today you’ll see why veterinary students are adding to problems.Pharmaceutical companies are another reason why veterinary bills are rising. This is true for medical and dental bills as well. Developing cutting edge drugs costs money, lots of money. The cost of developing a drug must be made back through drug sales.
Drug companies like Pfizer can only sell a drug that is protected through patents for so long before generic knockoffs come onto the market and destroy their profit margins.
Another reason for rising veterinary bills is specialty practices. The AVMA currently lists 20 specialties for veterinarians ranging from anesthesiology to dermatology.
If your vet referred you to a specialty clinic, they do charge a lot more in most cases because of their advanced training, equipment, and personnel.
The average veterinairan is under more pressure than ever to refer to a specialist early on in hard cases to prevent them from being sued.
Another reason why veterinary bills are rising is because of growing student debt. Today veterinary students on average graduate with over $100,000 worth of student loan debt.
(I believe the average student loan debt has increase 31% over just last few years, similar to dental and medical students)
With this increase debt load, students are forced to look for higher paying jobs in order to pay off their student loans. There are only so many hours you can work in a week so in order to earn more you have to charge more.
In the past when a vet gave you a break on a vet bill it was coming out of their pocket. But with increasing financial pressure from student loans, building loans, payroll, etc, you are more likely to encounter higher veterinary costs.
This wraps up my two part series on why veterinary bills are so high. As you can see, there are many reasons, and not just some greedy veterinarian wanting more money.
Next time you go to the vet clinic, be nicer to your vet!
