Health insurance costs track health care costs. In the US health care costs are higher because both the frequency of services and the cost of services are higher than in other countries.

Metabolic disease to poor diets, poor exercise habits, poor sleep habits and high stress levels mean we use a lot more health care. As much as 30% of the higher cost of healthcare in our country is due to this. At some point our nation needs to begin to address this issue or health care costs will skyrocket beyond what many Americans will be able to afford (no matter how it is "packaged". Secondly, the prices we pay whether it is for branded drugs or a doctor's services, or a night in the hospital are substantially higher than in other countries. While Democrats want the government to set prices and Republicans want "the market" to set prices, the issue is not so much about who sets prices, but how they are determined.

Ideally, a competitive marketplace sets prices, but often health care for various reasons does not have a dynamic market and so the market cannot be relied upon to establish "fair pricing".

Government pricing can be very arbitrary or worse influenced by political lobbying. In fact, state government unfairly uses its power to cost shift health care costs onto private citizens through a combination of laws and dictated pricing.

There is a way to simulate the marketplace to arrive at fair pricing when a viable market does not exist. But that would involve stomping all over the playground of politicians and network contracting entities.