A reader responds to Megan:
Another reason that health care costs consumes so much of our GDP is that we have complex, sophisticated technology and Americans expect access to that technology for their illnesses regardless of cost. Our ethical decision-making has not kept pace with our technological development. Therefore, extremely premature babies and the elderly for example, who have very little chance of surviving their health care challenges with any kind of quality of life, consume significant resources before eventually succumbing. This raises the specter of rationing, which is politically intolerable. So if all Americans want access to all technology, it's going to be expensive. Even if the inefficiencies are remedied, and excessive costs are brought under control our expectation will still be very expensive to satisfy. Someone needs to explain the trade-offs between cost and access involved in lowering the cost of health care, and then facilitate a national, informed discussion about our choices as a nation.
The Dish 