The Book of Records

"Hold the presses and call Mr. Guiness" (I wrote in 1988) "health care costs are shattering all records!" In the crisis of that day, annual U.S. health care expenditures had reached a staggering $544 billion, an onerous 11.4% of GDP. Despite perennial hand-wringing and sporadic half-measures by would-be reformers, health care costs have continued unabated to shatter records ever since. In 2008, our annual expenditure was $2.3 TRILLION, a whopping (and unsustainable) 16.2% of GDP! Will the proposed Bill currently before Congress finally stem the tide? I am convinced it will not, and may actually exacerbate the problem, unless employed as a wedge to introduce further, more meaningful and fundamental reforms. I am not optimistic--I see little evidence of strong, principled leadership that would be required to make the tough (and perhaps unpopular) decisions necessary to finally get the job done.