We used to think that the really “inescapable” big expenses our families had to cover were food, housing and clothing. When we “took care” of them, then whatever we had left was spread among the costs of “everything else.”
But nowadays, there is one huge additional cost that must be considered. It’s health care – whether we pay for it through personal insurance, from our pockets directly, or through taxes to finance the many government medical programs.
A recent government report shockingly suggests that by 2019 – just nine years away – the rising cost of health care will mean that one single item will make up 20 percent of our economy!
We want everyone to have whatever is really needed for health care. There’s a saying, “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got just about everything.” Then you may be able to manage the “other things.” But a growing problem these days is paying for our health care.
There are several reasons. There are more things – many of them very expensive – that can be done to prolong life and make it more comfortable. Cures cost. But when we are paying heavily for health insurance and out-of-pocket costs plus government medical care – and running deeply in the red governmentally – we need to be wary of the prediction that 20 percent of our economy will soon be consumed by health care.