​Health care is a very important component of the American economy. The United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) put the 2008 direct health care expenditures at about $2.34 trillion, or about 16.2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), or an average of $7,681 spent for every man, woman, and child in the country. Health care cost increases have caused very serious problems that threaten to bankrupt the system, providers, employers, and the families that pay the costs that their health insurance plans do not cover. Additionally, cost increases have...

​Health care is a very important component of the American economy. The United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) put the 2008 direct health care expenditures at about $2.34 trillion, or about 16.2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), or an average of $7,681 spent for every man, woman, and child in the country. Health care cost increases have caused very serious problems that threaten to bankrupt the system, providers, employers, and the families that pay the costs that their health insurance plans do not cover. Additionally, cost increases have...