Maggie's Farm

Robert Samuelson, in Getting Real about Health Care: It's not about coverage. It's about cost, begins:

Whoever wins should put health care at the top of his agenda. But the central 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 diagnostic tests, surgeries and medical devices are either ineffective or unneeded. "More expensive care," notes CBO director Peter Orszag, "does not always mean better care."

Read the whole thing. Of course, the only way to control costs is to limit services. HMOs do that, and people rebel.

Besides freedom, what do American people value more than their health (well, plus their guns and Bibles)?