U.S. Health Care

Science Daily features an article titled American Values Blamed For U.S Health-care Crisis. The article cites information gathered from articles authored by Dr. Marc Nuwer which appear in the journal Neurology. The theme of the linked article is that Americans have to adjust their thinking for the good of our health care system. I was surprised to learn that we currently spend more than two trillion dollars a year on health care which is four times a much as we spend on national defense. This is predicted to go up to four trillion by 2015 which would make health care 20% of our GNP. It is already the largest sector of the economy. There is also this (quoting):

10 percent of U.S. expenses are spent on "defensive medicine" — pricey tests ordered by doctors afraid of missing anything, however unlikely. "Doctors don't want to be accused in court of a delayed diagnosis, so they bend over backwards to find something — even if it's a rare possibility — in order to cover themselves," Nuwer says.