Healthcare in America, just another Seldon Crisis?

When heard they were making a movie of Isaac Asimov's fantastic Foundation series, I decided it was time to reread them.  You see, as a child, my father had the brilliant idea to make reading a book of his choosing part of my monthly allowance.  Half actually.  Plenty of 28th-31sts were spent cramming in some of the best sci fi, personal philosophy, negotiation, interpersonal relations, investment and management books you could find in the mid 80s and early 90s.  It was his intention that not only do I get to learn things he considered crucial to a successful life, but that by having me read them, he would get a free rereading as I summarized my findings.  The pain of cramming also taught me about procrastination. Genius parenting.

The Foundation series, consisting of 7 books written out of order between 1942 and 1992 (the first was written was Asimov was 22!), that chronicle a future galaxy on the decline.  I won't dare do the entire series justice, but the books begin with the establishment of the Foundation on a remote planet that faces a series of existential threats.  More a collection of short stories, each story ends with an astounding resolution of each crisis.

I bring this up as I was reading this recent piece by Dave Chase the describes the disastrous effects of rising health care costs on Americans, to the tune of $1,000,000 lost per family over a lifetime with little to show for it.

For a brief moment I envisioned our current health care fiasco as nothing more than a Seldon crisis, resolved through bold and decisive action, and look forward to when the victors are hailed as heroes and we move on to the next larger, more complex catastrophe threatening our survival...