To those who say we have to "control costs" - I say line them up and have them sign a contract that they will not accept any form of care that has been improved from this day forward.
"Controlling costs" is tantamount to saying "stop progress". We do some amazing freakin' things in this country with regards to health care and furthering our knowledge of our bodies. That costs money. I'm sure the medicine of the 1950's would be pretty cheap today. Some penicillin, a cold wet rag when you had a fever, the occasional lobotomy...
But we want the best. We want it to be perfect (or we'll sue) and it better not interfere with my cell phone contract or Directv.