Health care costs

One of the issues relating to the health care discussions we're winessing seems to get little attention.

It is how we individually calculate the cost of our health care.

It's not just out-of-pocket expenses as they are normally noted.

One piece is just that - what we pay out of our pockets for doctors, health services and pharmaceuticals that are not reimbursed or covered by insurance. (Not included is the impact of insurance companies negotiating or insisting on low fees and how even those fees are affected by overall costs born in part by others; here, I am just sticking with the expenses we can individually itemize.)

A second critical piece - if one is fully allocating the costs we must cover - is what we pay in insurance premiums. (Not included in that is what people are not paid in salary because employers are diverting that money to pay for their share of insurance premiums.)

And, finally, there is the all other - non-prescription medications, health products, gym memberships, costs of participating in athletic activities, transportation expenses related to health care, and probably a few others.

Only when we add all of that up INDIVIDUALLY can we have a fair idea of what we pay for health care of all sorts.

Calculating the full cost - removing insurance benefits and lower fees because of insurance - is worth doing just to put it all in perspective.

No?