I think it's precisely the health habits and lifestyles of Americans that keep the estimated price tag on a national health program so high.I disagree. He is absolutely right that there is something uniquely unhealthy about the the American lifestyle -- smoking, obesity rates, etc., and that this contributes to the high cost of health care. However, this factor is certainly not among the highest that contribute to exorbitant health care costs. Take a look at Paul Krugman's column from November 2007 in the NYTimes, where he notes that the "Cheeseburger" theory of American health care costs has been drastically overstated, and points to evidence from McKinsey Global Institute. In reality, the main contributors of the increasing rate of skyrocketing health care costs in the United States are
a)Age -- baby boomers are now getting to the age where they are experience drastic health problems and require more attention and
b) Technology - This country has invested a lot of money in financing improvements in health technology, which has ironically caused an increase in utilization of health services. If people want MRIs, they can go get MRIs and it costs the bucks.
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I'm not sure a significant number patients go out on a whim and ask for MRI's at their nearest health care facility. But I can understand your reasoning here.
Diagnostic technologies have proven to be a significant financial burden but a lot of doctors aren't trained to perform thorough differentials without these expensive protocols. Perhaps a re-evaluation of medical school curricula is necessary to promote more cost-effective diagnostic practices.
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