Why the healthcare crisis won’t go away

The United States faces a medical emergency. Costs of the nation’s healthcare system are growing so fast they are out of control. Many employers are dumping escalating healthcare expenses for both employees and their retired workers as fast as they can manage, fearing a loss of competitiveness.

So far, the White House and other would-be physicians have decided that the answer is more of the same – the magic of consumer choice in a free market. But some are skeptical that this will provide a real cure.

“The whole idea is unsound,” says Arnold Relman, a Harvard Medical School expert. Yet influential people in Washington have persuaded themselves that a more competitive healthcare system will slash costs enough to keep it workable.

The numbers seem to back up Dr. Relman’s conclusion.

Currently, the average American consumes $6,420 worth of healthcare services a year. That’s more than $12,200 a year for the average family. It’s the most inefficient medical system among industrial nations.

Read more of David R. Francis’s commentary in the Christian Science Monitor.