Health care costs in the US - why so high?

If the US health care industry were its own economy, it would be large enough to have a seat at the G8 table. It provides the most expensive health care in the world, though not necessarily the best, and it’s not accessible to millions. It is becoming a large and unsustainable burden on Americans and on the US economy. Both conservatives and liberals have enough reasons to demand a significant reform in the way the system operates but current reform efforts are largely misdirected.

The real cause of high and rising health care costs is either misidentified or ignored by lawmakers. Artificial villains are designated (malpractice lawyers, health insurers), which further detracts the public discourse, policy analysis, and political decisions from focusing on and removing the true drivers of costs. I recently researched and wrote an analysis of US health care costs, which concludes that the key underlying problem in our health care system is the inefficiency of doctors and hospitals.

Click on the "View my documents on Scribd" link below to read or download my analysis. The link takes you to Scribd, which hosts the paper.