My Comments: In the early 90’s, when then First Lady Hillary Clinton championed what I think they called health care reform, I found myself on board with this idea as I was paying a ton of money for a high deductible health insurance plan for my wife and I.

I was self-employed, which means no financial help from an employer. Furthermore, my self-employment was as an insurance agent, which meant that I also earned a commission on whatever I sold myself, thereby reducing the cost. But it was still a lot of money. And I knew that what I was paying not only covered my specific costs but also those of millions of others across the 50 states that had no health insurance.

Putting everyone into the mix, and causing more of them to contribute something to the cost of health care, would effectively reduce my costs. But no, it was ridiculed and died an inglorious death. But that same principal applies to what is now the law of the land, in the form of the PPACA. And I applaud those who caused it to become legislation, and give the finger to those who would reverse it.

Article added by Paul Wilson on September 12, 2013

Americans can — and do – argue all day long about the ins and outs of Obamacare. The right to voice your opinion, no matter how little time you’ve spent researching it, is part of what makes our country great. And boy, do we take advantage.

But no matter one’s thoughts on PPACA, it’s getting harder and harder to argue for our health care system in its current form. Study after study have found that Americans live shorter lives than people in other developed nations, that our infants die more often and of more causes, and that our women face a high risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. We also have the second-highest rate of death among wealthy nations from both coronary heart disease and lung disease.

To add insult to injury, we spend far more than any other nation for these decidedly mediocre results. The U.S. spends nearly 20 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, almost double the amount spent by most other developed countries. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if medical costs continue to grow unabated, “total spending on health care would eventually account for all of the country’s economic output.” The CBO has identified federal spending on government health programs as a primary cause of long-term budget deficits.

But why? What makes American health care so expensive?

Elisabeth Rosenthal, a correspondent for the New York Times, is spending an entire year investigating that very question through a series of articles titled “Paying Till It Hurts.” “The purpose of the series,” she says,” is to make Americans aware of the costs we pay for health care.”

So far, she has published three articles detailing some of the underlying problems that have led to these out-of-control costs.