When I retired six years ago, the school district had an $800 per month cap on health benefits. Employees could get a good policy without paying out of pocket, unless they wanted a "cadillac" policy of some sort.
Now, six years later, the cap is $1,500, and most of the employees pay out of pocket as well.
I seriously doubt our national wealth has increased that much in the past six years.
Inefficiency is a big factor. That the insured don't care how much their care costs is another big factor.
By what objective measure is our standard of living higher than that of Western Europe?
children in poverty? crime? opportunity for education and a good job? infant mortality?
We do drive bigger cars on average.
Middle class families can afford insurance as long as either the husband or the wife works for an employer that has some sort of group insurance. If they're young, they can buy an individual policy. If not, they may not be able to.
the problem is, money does buy special treatment.
How are we going to enforce that? It looks like congresscritters are up for purchase in a lot of cases.
