IS THERE INFLATION IN THE PRICE OF HEALTH CARE?

IS THERE INFLATION IN THE PRICE OF HEALTH CARE? I have linked several times to articles by Robert Samuelson and I have a high regard for him. I have to disagree with some of this article and the implications of one sentence in particular. (You can see from the date of the article that I have been brooding about this). The sentence in the article is: “Since 1975, annual health spending per person, adjusted for inflation, has grown 2.1 percentage points faster than overall economic growth per person.” The point comes up frequently—I think unfortunately. The article speaks of “health cost inflation.” The costs are added up without taking into account the changes in what is obtained for the increased costs. When inflation in other consumer prices is measured, corrections are generally made for quality improvements. It is recognized that a “computer” in 1975 is less valuable than a “computer” in 2009. Yet costs of health care are added up without considering what we are getting for the money. This article gives the average expected life span at birth in 1975 as 72.6 years and the figure for 2005 as 77.8. I marvel that five years were added to life expectancy in thirty years. Somehow that improvement must be taken into account when increases in health costs are considered.