A very good article on health care economics

By David Goldhill, here is one bit:

How am I supposed to be able to afford health care in this system?
Well, what if I gave you $1.77 million? Recall, that’s how much an
insured 22-year-old at my company could expect to pay–and to have paid
on his and his family’s behalf–over his lifetime, assuming health-care
costs are tamed. Sure, most of that money doesn’t pass through your
hands now. It’s hidden in company payments for premiums, or in Medicare
taxes and premiums. But think about it: If you had access to those
funds over your lifetime, wouldn’t you be able to afford your own care?
And wouldn’t you consume health care differently if you and your family
didn’t have to spend that money only on care?

Here is another:

From 2000 to 2005, per capita health-care spending in Canada grew by 33
percent, in France by 37 percent, in the U.K. by 47 percent–all
comparable to the 40 percent growth experienced by the U.S. in that
period. Cost control by way of bureaucratic price controls has its
limits.

His preferred reform reminds me of Brad DeLong's plan, namely universal catastrophic care combined with required HSAs at lower levels of expenditure.