ABSTRACT

For all of its seemingly insurmountable hurdles and tangled ways, the healthcare problem actually has a number of enticing and encouraging features. ‚ere is plenty of money in the system already to do everything we might hope to do. ‚e amount we spend in the United States is almost o¢ the charts compared to other sophisticated national systems of healthcare. Whether measured in dollars per person, or as a percentage of the economy, we spend 50% to 100% more than would seem absolutely necessary. ‚e vast amounts of waste in our system stand as much more than opportunities for us to be outraged, to stand aghast, to mop our foreheads with our hankies and say, “How dare they!” ‚ey stand, actually, as multiple veins of ore, each far richer than any gold seam ever discovered on the planet. ‚e waste in our healthcare system is this nation’s greatest untapped natural resource. For our future and our children’s future, we must mine it.