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even now, the costs of health care are inflated by people that use no common sense:

there are those that run to the doctor at any excuse. women are prone to this, my mother was an example. (men usually have the opposite problem, they don't go often enough.) when my mother and father visited me from out of town, i noticed she had a samsonite piece of luggage exclusively for her pills.

which brings us to another aspect of health care--doctors that over prescribe. many doctors are pawns of the pharmaceutical co's, and drive new mercedes given to them by the pharmaceutical industry for moving product.

after my mother died, my father discovered that many of her medications were not advised for usage together. in short, she was being killed by modern medicine.

there are those who go to emergency rooms for colds or flu.

I can tell you with 100% confidence, that the people that pay the least for healthcare, utilize it the most.

Medical Assistance patients will come to the clinic that I worked at, with sniffles, when asked how long they have had the ailment, to a person they would answer "less than 24 hours".

A large company in my town has the best health insurance plan in the world (non-union shop by the way). Employees and family pay no premiums, no-copays, and no deductibles. For prescription drugs they pay $5.00 generic, $10.00 name brand. Those patients were also part of the "less than 24 hour" club.

There have been statistics that prove that the biggest utilizers of health care, are health care employees. That is generally because of their health care benefits, not because they get sick more often. Statistics also prove that when companies institute co-pays of even nominal amounts such as $25.00, utilization goes way down.

For anyone looking for a panacea of "free health-care" these plans are not the way to do it. We have to first change peoples preception of Dr's healing everything. We have to understand that when governments mandates more and more coverage in policies (ie. sex change operations, birth control, weight control, viagra etc.) policies are going to become more expensive.

When did Health insurance forget that it its INSURANCE. Ask yourself how much your car insurance would be if it had to cover oil changes.

And when did insurance become an employers mandate, as opposed to a benefit?

"even now, the costs of health care are inflated by people that use no common sense:"

I think one of the major problems of healthcare is the vast number of uninsured: some who could afford insurance, but prefer not to get it, then if something happens, they can't pay, so those who have insurance pick up the tab.

The other major problem is the vast number of illegal immigrants who also don't have health insurance, and again, those who do have insurance pick up the tab. That's the real reason you pay $10 for an aspirin in hospitals.

Each insured person is picking up the tab for 2-3 others without insurance.

PS. regarding your Mother's medications, she wasn't "killed by modern medicine", she was killed by stupid doctors.