It is for precisely these kinds of reasons that I always thought GDP was a flawed or at the very least an incomplete measure. At constant "efficiency" for whate

It is for precisely these kinds of reasons that I always thought GDP was a flawed or at the very least an incomplete measure. At constant "efficiency" for whatever definition of efficiency is appropriate for a given sector/activity/industry increase in GDP is a net positive. But what is happening in health care is a travesty. From my first real hospital visit (other than annual health checkup) to when my daughter was born the actual cost of care and the billed amount were so ridiculous, billing so confusing, that I decided to from now on not pay any out of pocket amount till may be a sternly worded letter gets to me. At least I would wait for bill number 3 before deciding to pay. Learned it the hard way after I ended up paying a few thousand dollars extra for maternity care. In a span of a 3 week I got 3 bills for the same service all progressively getting lower for some mysterious reason. Not collecting my mail often, I, idiotically paid the first one as soon as I opened it, not knowing that the lower amount is just 2 envelopes down in the pile.