The skyrocketing prices in healthcare and education have the same root problem: too many non-essential people (read: clerks) are on the payroll (e.g. search for

The skyrocketing prices in healthcare and education have the same root problem: too many non-essential people (read: clerks) are on the payroll (e.g. search for "Dean-to-Professor ratio"). The government will not solve this problem, it will make it worse. I think the only real solution to the problem is to break both hospitals and universities into smaller pieces with more direct correlation between performed work and rewards. Right now gigantic organizations ("too big to fail") in hospitals and universities make it impossible for staff members to see how the money is spent. The smaller doctor offices can be more effective and offer lower prices to patients. Same goes to smaller schools. This is one of the examples where scale makes things worse, not better. Of course, you also have to have shared facilities with expensive equipment. However, these facilities does not need to be a part of the hospitals/universities. For example, there are already 3rd party labs that provide services to hospitals and doctors. Same can be done for other procedures (e.g. MRI) and this can also help to use equipment more efficiently.