The Best Analysis of the Health Insurance Debacle I’ve Ever Heard

Why are American health care costs so high?  Who’s to blame? How did we ever adapt an employer based health care system to begin with?  What happens when you put your hedgehog on anti-psychotics?

The past two weeks the NPR radio show, This American Life, has broadcast a special two part series explaining, in depth, what, exactly, IS wrong with the American health care system and how the mess all came to be.  They examine patients, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceuticals, veterinarians, and, of course, the insurance industry.

I’d highly recommend checking out both episodes.  You can listen to both free on their website.

391: More is Less: A surprising fact about Bush’s economic failure.  Are doctors to blame for rising costs? Or is the problem the patients? And, who would win in a fight between a polar bear and an insurance company?

392: Someone Else’s Money: The most exciting hour you’ll ever hear about the insurance industry, including armies of medical coders, prescription drug coupons, what we can learn from pet insurance, and a few parts that actually make the insurance giants seem less evil than we all think they are.

I have definitely begun to question my own role in the problem: do I trust my doctor enough or am I overly cautious and demand every test done at whatever cost?  I think I would find it really hard to say no to anything “just in case” even if it were an incredibly improbable occurrence… Are you part of the problem, too?