Discussions of health care in the U.S. usually focus on insurance companies, but, whatever their problems, they're not the main driver of health-care inflation: providers are.
James SurowieckiDiversity and independence are important because the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromising. An intelligent group, especially when confronted with cognition problems, does not ask its members to modify their positions in order to let the group reach a decision everyone can be happy with. Insteadโฆthe best way for a group to be smart is for each person in it to think and act as independently as possible.
James SurowieckiUnlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the tax revenue pays for current benefits; anything that's left over goes into trust funds for the future. The programs were designed this way for political reasons.
James SurowieckiFraming effects can be very influential, and to the degree that you can think of a task as close rather than distant, you're more likely to actually get it done.
James Surowiecki