There’s a trend right now for companies to offer their employees medical savings accounts; employees get a pool of money they can use to pay their medical expenses, with some assistance from the company. Leftover money can be rolled over into the next year, and some of it can be kept. The idea is to encourage employees to be smart buyers when it comes to medical expenses, but how can this work if there’s such a huge disparity between what’s charged to the insurance company and what a normal person must pay? With a medical savings account are those deep discounts still available? And for how long?

The biggest problem Republicans have with the current medical system is that there isn’t a liberal in sight they can blame its deficiencies and cruelties on. Republicans continue their efforts to raise simple fear amongst citizens—fear of drug tampering on medicines from other countries, like…oooo…Canada, with its notoriously dangerous drug supply chain. It’s not like medicines in America can be sold to pharmacies by drug distributors dealing from the trunks of their cars. Oh wait…they can and do. Or it’s the scary ghost of medical futures that might involve the public sector! My god, its full of stars, and they’re falling…

There is exactly one reason why Republicans (and Democrats not worthy of their offices) have been so protective of the current dysfunctional medical system in America. They have contributors who benefit enormously from the current system, and that applecart isn’t going to be overturned any time soon.

So smile, citizen, as you pay over twice as much for medical care that doesn’t even get you into the top ten outcomes, world-wide. You bought into it, and now you’re paying for it. And get ready to pay more—much more—if you continue to keep your heads in the sand. I can see the drug companies “researching” a miracle cure now: A drug that will let you keep your head in the sand! Miracles never cease.