No matter how optimistic and hopeful you might be by nature, it’s difficult to approach the issue of health care in the United States without a sense of foreboding. And confusion. And frustration. And maybe a little anger.
The issue of affordable, reasonable, pragmatic health care is the defining issue of our times. In the U. S. in 1969, we spent about 5.0% of GDP on healthcare; today that number is closer to 18.0%. We spend at least half again as much per capita on health care as any other developed country, yet our health outcomes lag significantly behind those countries that spend less. Medical advances have allowed us to extend life, to treat illnesses that a generation ago would have been fatal, to keep the seriously ill alive longer. But the result of that is that 50.0% of the population now accounts for 97.0% of health care spending, while the other half accounts for 3.0%.
Image: http://www.forbes.com
