Starting this week, I’m going to begin posting on a new question I’ve been researching – why does healthcare cost so much?

This is a pretty important question. Healthcare costs are up to 16% of the U.S. GDP, and are projected to hit 21% by about 2020. Insurance premiums are going up for most people next year, with no end in sight. The baby boomer generation is approaching retirement, and both the quality and quantity of healthcare necessary increases rapidly with age.

It’s pretty easy to find ideas on the internet. It’s Obamacare! Blame the rich doctors! It’s Big Pharma!

The reality is that there IS a cause. But what is it? There certainly are a ton of ideas out there, but most of them are politically-motivated, poorly-researched (some people think Facebook counts as research), and honestly many are just dumb. I’ll say it.

Stay tuned for next week. We will start by breaking down a couple common misconceptions and introducing some important ideas.