Out Of Control.

Health care costs keep going up. O and I now pay about a third of our monthly minimum budget for health insurance, and the coverage we get for that is poor. We're protected from health catastrophes (although a serious health emergency would still probably wipe us out), but we still have to pay for any doctor visits, etc. out of pocket.

That's bad enough, but the fact is that we're lucky. We're able to pay for insurance. All too many people in this country can't afford even that minimal level of protection.

This situation is peculiarly American. Every other industrialized country in the world offers its citizens some form of universal health care. And for a whole lot less than we spend on health care delivery here.

In fact, the US spends two to three times more per person on health care than any other industrialized nation, with similar or worse results in terms of health outcomes.

Why? Check out this article by economist Dean Baker.

we pay more than twice as much per person for our health care as people in any other wealthy country. The reason is that the richest 1 Percent -- executives in pharmaceutical and insurance companies, hospitals and highly paid medical specialists -- all make huge sums off our health care system. If we paid the same amount per person as people in any other country, our long-term budget projections would show huge surpluses, not deficits.

That's right, our long-term budget deficit problem is driven almost completely by our out-of-control, for-profit health care system. And as our population ages, things will only get worse.

What's the solution? Medicare for all would be a good start. Health care costs in the Medicare system are significantly lower than those charged by the private sector, mainly because of the mass bargaining power of the government.

With the current political climate, it's very unlikely that anything resembling a solution will emerge on the federal level, but some states, including Vermont, Montana, and California, are moving toward versions of a single payer system that promise to get health care costs under control.

It can't happen soon enough.

P.