Healthcare: Treating mass wreckage is expensive

In the U.S., every professional has excellent healthcare provided by their employer. There is a currently a debate about whether professionals should buy healthcare for non-professionals. But the issue of taxes and services is larger than this. Professionals pay about the same tax rates as Europeans while receiving far fewer governmental services, of which healthcare is only one. It's baffling at first, until you see how the economics work.

It costs about the same to support a legal citizen or an illegal alien. Both need food, shelter, transportation, roads, schooling for their children - and the additional "free" hospital care, prisons, and other expenses are just hidden costs shifted onto the public. The cheap labor isn't so cheap, though the direct employer might not have to pay all of the costs.

So why is American healthcare 2.5 times more expensive than European healthcare? The problems being solved are necessarily more intense.

• America is the world leader in obesity: Two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight.
• America is the world leader in drug use
• Americans avoid exercise and stare at televisions
• American diets are inferior to many third world nations