Health care costs remain the three hundred pound gorilla in the room.

Writing for Bloomberg News on the deficit and proposals to deal with it, “U.S. Deficit Proposal Misses the One Big Gap:” Roger Lowenstein writes in part:

Health-care programs are the biggie, because they are affected by both the number of seniors and the rising cost of care. In total, as a share of the economy, such spending is expected to double. Mother Jones’ website isn’t off base when it calls health care “our only real long-term spending problem.”

Keep in mind this was written long after health care reform was enacted. You may want to pay close attention to these points of view because dealing with this very valid concern (not to mention your non-government sponsored health care costs) is going to have very significant consequences on all aspects of your life from your ability to retire to the type of health care you receive.

Americans have grown up with two invalid assumptions when it comes to health care; high cost equals high quality and more health care is always better health care. Those philosophies are not followed in the rest of the world. While all societies struggle with the rising cost of health care, most provide care less expensively than the US with no adverse health consequences.

Think about this, in Germany if you go to the doctor with back pain your first treatment may be a massage while in the US it may be an MRI or Cat Scan. Which approach would you prefer?

Anyone who tells you that we can continue the health care system we have, even with the changes of PPACA, and call it “affordable” is lying to you.