HEALTH CARE COSTS HAVEN'T GONE UP HIGHER THAN INFLATION

One of the biggest lies most people believe it that health care costs have gone up higher than inflation over the last few decades.

This is total unadulterated bullshit.

Health care quality has gone up steadily over the last few years - and last few decades, and the better care we can get now is more expensive than the inferior care we paid less for a few decades ago.

If you want to pay 1960's prices for health care you can - just settle for 1960's health care!

Look at it this way:

A compact car cost about $2000 in 1975. A sub-compact car cost $15,000 today.

Does that mean there has been 750% inflation?

Nope. The sub-compact you get today is better than the 1975 compact - in fact, it's better than the top of the line sports-car was in 1975. Faster to 60MPH, quicker to stop and safer in an accident, with better heat, A/C and stereo. And GPS.

So comparing only costs between cars of 1975 and 2011 is... idiotic.

So it comparing the cost of medicine in 1975 to the cost of medicine in 2011.

This is one BASIC reason health care insurance has gone up steadily over the last few decades.

I think people ought to stop a lot of their whining about rising heath care costs.

I think the real issue is that people ought to pay for their own health care - especially when so many health care issues are lifestyle related.

We need to transition to personal health accounts and away from Medicare and Medicaid. We shouldn't want career politicians and their lobbyist pals to make health decisions for us or for the system as a whole.

And we need to find a way to make illegal immigrants pay for their care - cuz it's costing us billions.