I’m not the first person to write about the ridiculously high cost of health care, and I won’t be the last I’m sure. But I want to share a story of a recent experience I had with my insurance provider and my healthcare provider.

A week ago I was down and out with what I thought was a sinus cold. After 4 days of feeling ill and running a low grade fever I called my doctor to make an appointment. Her staff was sympathetic, but the doctor was leaving for a two week vacation the next day and simply could not work me in for an appointment.

So I did what I usually do in such situations, I headed to a nearby immediate care, “doc-in-a-box” center to get checked out. After a short wait I was seen by a doctor who determined I likely had a sinus infection and I definitely had an ear infection. He wrote a script for Amoxicillin and sent me on my way. Total time with the doctor? About 8 minutes.

When I went to the front desk to pay I was told the co-pay was $35, not my insurance plan’s $20. I figured there was a premium for immediate care centers and didn’t quibble, I just paid the lady.

Let’s jump ahead a week; last night I received a “statement of benefits” from my insurance company. This is normal anytime I have a claim, and it usually tells me what I paid, what was billed to me, and what the insurance provider paid. I think the biggest reason they send them out is to make you think you should be grateful by how much they’re paying on your behalf.

This statement of benefit said quite the opposite, it said I owed the doctor $50! It didn’t say why, only that they paid their part - $2.96 - and I was responsible for the remainder of the tab. I of course jumped online to their “e-benefits” web site to find out what coverage they provide for immediate care centers. I couldn’t find any specific exclusion for immediate care centers. The only language they have about fees is for a doctor visit co-pay and an ER visit co-pay.

What really burns my beans is not the money but the principal. My annual out-of-picket costs just for health insurance is over $5000. My employee is also picking up some part of the tab. If you look at the frequency I go to the doctor or otherwise use my insurance (that is, not a lot) I’m really taking it in the shorts. But the “gotcha” is that if you don’t have insurance and something Really Bad ^tm happens to you; you’re really in a tough spot. Did you know that almost 50% of personal bankruptcy in the United States is caused by medical bills?

In 2004 the US gross domestic product (GDP) was $11.3 trillion dollars. Healthcare spending was 15% of GDP or $1.7 trillion dollars.

Wrap you mind about that for a second, $1.7 trillion dollars. That’s $5,667 for every man, woman and child in the United States, every single one!

The amount of money the US spends on healthcare is 3% of the gross domestic product of the entire world. Yes, that’s right, 3% of every “dollar” of every country in the entire world is spend by the United States on healthcare.

How is it that a country can spend this much money and have a healthcare system that is almost universally reviled as being broken and untenable?

Why is our biggest national concern not healthcare reform? I’m not advocating cradle-to-grave government provided healthcare, but there has to be some sweeping reform to the overall system of healthcare, insurance and tort-reform.

Malpractice insurance costs and the threat of lawsuits are two of the biggest reasons healthcare costs as much as it does. Don’t think that malpractice costs are a huge problem? Consider this; an OB-GYN with 21 lawsuit-free years of practice saw the costs of his malpractice insurance rise from $23,000 in 2002 to $84,000 in 2004.

If you had to absorb a price increase of $61,000 how would you make money? You wouldn’t, you would pass the cost along to your customers. The result? Healthcare and medical insurance costs that are spiraling out of control.

The fact that the United States - one of the only “superpower” countries left on the Earth- can’t figure out how to tame our healthcare crises is simply shameful.