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Assignment for Lesson Eight

After reading the rebuttal of the Texas Medical Association, I do not find it persuasive. Dr. Gawande made substantive research and came with detailed conclusions regarding the variation in health care services across the use. The high costs of care in McAllen do not match the quality of services in this area whatsoever the circumstances. The reasons provided in the rebuttal appear to be defending the unethical happenings in McAllen where the health care system is benefitting illegally from the government programs like Medicare. Despite the concerns raised by the Texas Medical Association, this professional agency has failed to explain the relationship between high cost of medical care and low quality of services. At least the high medical costs should be followed by high quality services. Furthermore, in an area where the highest percentage of its population is poor, it is not justifiable for the cost of care to be high. This is because in this case, the high costs of care will make the health care services inaccessible to this population as they cannot afford them.

From my point of view, the explanation that best explains the high costs of health care in McAllen Texas is possible health care fraud and conspiracy where individuals benefit from Medicare and Medicaid as well as other health care federal funded programs. This is because after Dr. Gawande published the article, a series of people have been charged of fraud or kickback conspiracy especially in McAllen. This clearly indicates that the high health costs of health care in this area are not genuine and some individuals are using the care system to defraud users and the government.