Healthcare Costs & Medical Technology
Almost everyone knows that this country has a scandalously large number of people who lack health insurance, now up to 46 million and growing. That number is vivid and evocative. But it has overshadowed another, more serious issue—that of the steady escalation of health care costs. Largely due to the use of medical technology, those costs are now increasing at an annual rate of 7% a year. The Medicare program as a consequence is projected to go bankrupt in nine years, and overall health care cost to go from its present $2.1 trillion annually to $4 trillion in 10 years.