If you actually wanted to reduce health care spending you need to reduce how much we are actually paying for health care products and services. Not only do we spend way more than the rest of the industrialized world on administrative costs, we also pay way more for the exact same drugs and treatments. Forcing people to pay more for their health care out of pocket, i.e. have “skin in the game,” will not fix our problems.

Washington Post columnist correctly notes that OECD nations provide equal or better health care but at a fraction of the cost paid by the US. But he then ignores the obvious conclusion — that we should adopt one of their proven systems — and instead claims that an unproven and unlikely scheme using vouchers to private insurers would work.

This morning is the tale of two headlines — one from The New York Times and one from the Los Angeles Times — which are completely at odds with each other with regard to health care costs and the rationale for premium rate hikes. If health care spending has grown by only 4%, why does Blue Shield of California need to increase its rates by as much as 59%?