I just wanted to leave myself a note that I'm willing to bet that at some point in the relatively near future a huge scandal will erupt when people finally figure out why healthcare costs have been increasing at a double digit rate for the last few years. I can find no compelling reason that could justify such huge increases other than some form of massive fraud. I have already seen the absurd billing rates that the industry supports and our current 'first dollar' insurance system is clearly nuts, especially the filter that is introduced when people get their healthcare through their employer instead of on their own but none of these causes are sufficiently compelling to explain the healthcare cost explosion. When I did some research on the subject I found a laundry list of explanations provided: the population is aging, there are less healthcare providers, people are fatter and so suffer from more diseases, new medicines are expensive, people are demanding more healthcare, etc. but in the material I find on the subject no one ever quantifies these cost factors or provides a model that shows how they result in double digit cost growth. My guess is that there is a series of crimes in here some place, it's just a matter of time until they come to light. Anything whose cost increases at a rate greater than the increase in income isn't sustainable so eventually something will give.