Pater Familias

Theories, observations, and articles, by Philip Schaefer · All posts · Categories

AN ARGUMENT THAT WE ARE SPENDING TOO MUCH ON HEALTH.

September 13, 2008 · Economics

AN ARGUMENT THAT WE ARE SPENDING TOO MUCH ON HEALTH. I have been recently linking to excellent articles by Robert Samuelson. Here is part of his argument that we are spending too much on health care: “The central health care problem is not improving coverage. It’s controlling costs. In 1960, health care accounted for $1 of every $20 spent in the U.S. economy; now that’s $1 of every $6, and the Congressional Budget Office projects that it could be $1 of every $4 by 2025. Ponder that: a quarter of the U.S. economy devoted to health care. Would we be better off? Probably not. Countless studies have shown that many tests, surgeries and medical devices are either ineffective or unneeded.”