Finally--Someone Who Understands About Health Care Costs (how much, insurance, money)

[mysticaltyger]

I thought this was an intelliegent piece on the nature of health care costs and what to do about it. The author, Charles Whelan, is more of a socialist than me, but he does seem to understand the gist of the issue better than a lot of other pundits, who act as if universal insurance coverage and more government meddling will solve all the problems.

I particuarly like what he says here:

Add it all up. Your doctor, or more likely, multiple doctors, have an incentive to practice lots of medicine, whether the costs are justified by the outcomes or not. You, the consumer, are willing to undergo just about anything that is medically possible, no matter how much it costs, because you won't see the bulk of the bill. And even if you were to pay the bill, you would likely to listen to your doctor (who earns more by doing more) because he or she knows a lot more about medicine than you do.
This is not a recipe for responsible spending.

Yahoo! Personal Finance: Calculators,Money Advice,Guides,& More

[jtur88]

Basically, I've been saying that here (and elsehere) for years. The health care crisis it not about who pays the final bill, because in the end, we all pay it together. The crisis is about how much the bill is, because we all have unrealistic expectations about good health and long life.