You left out a number of reasons why health care cost are so high in the US. Sure, medical inflation is high, but there are many reasons. Medical malpractice insurance is high and that cost is passed to the consumer, but that's a minor cost compared to other reasons. I agree with you that the ACA would ultimately be a governmental burden, but it hadn't gotten there yet and ultimately that would not directly relate to higher heath costs, but higher taxes. My fear was that the ACA would implode resulting in a single provider and socialzed health care.
So why is healthcare so expensive and why can't we just follow other countries?
First, US mandatory Heath care. No hospital can deny health care for someone who is not insured. They can't turn you away. Have you been in an emergency room lately? You will see tons of people there being treated for a cold ...because it's free at least to a majority of the patients. This cost is transferred to the purchasers of insurance, you and me. However, do you want this to go away. If my son is on a camping trip and is injured, I want him to have immediate care. I don't want him waiting around to ensure his insurance card is valid
Second, medical innovation. Yes, those things that save our lives sometimes. It's those neat MRI machines, those new laser surgery machines, new innovation in cancer treatment, new designer drugs (half the population is on statins now, but no one even knew what they were in the 80s). All these great things that heal us ang give us longer life span that are invented somewhere and a lot of that occurs in the US. Until they become generic these items cost a premium. That's so the med manuf and drug companies can recoup its costs and profi off of its investment. These innovation costs are passed on to the consumer. Unlike most other countries, the us is a leader in medical innovation. One of my biggest fears of socialized medicine is the elimination of medical innovation. Why design a drug that cures cancer if you are not going to make $ off of it or hire scientists who might be able to make a cure for cancer if you don't see a profit in it or why make a better MRI if there is no one willing to pay for it. I for one don't want to see innovation in medicine stagnated at all.
Third, the US social attitude toward healthcare. Suppose you mother or wife is sick. You take her to a hospital and demand the best treatment possible be given to her. Cost is no object. You want the best surgeon, the best and latest equipment and the best treatment. Cost is never an issue for anyone in the USif we need care, regardless of age or socioeconomic status. We demand it, no questions asked. When was the last time you heard someone say, I'm in my 70s and I need cancer treatment but the doctors say my life expectancy is not that king anyway, so it's not worth the couple hundred grad it would otherwise cost. We don't look at health care that way. We spare no expense from the richest to the poorest for even one day of additional life. I like that and, again, it's a concern with socialized medicine, but someone has to pay for it. It's one of the reasons why individuals in countries with socialized medicine buy seperatevor supplemental policies. In effect, the rich get quality care and the poor don't.
My point in all of this is that there is no real easy answer from either a liberal or conservative view. The only way to really change this in an overhauling significant manner is to change the way we citizens view healthcare in the US, and I, for one, am not willing to accept many of those changes. And for those that want to nationalize healthcare, I suggest you think again because you might get what you wish for.
