is really needed but can be defensive medicine or we have , a billing system that encourages overutilizationer three, what other drivers of costs? what about end-of-life care, the disease stages that are particularly demanding on the system, and had reform specialized care units around those to do a better job? those the things we need to do. david: what about pharmaceuticals? it is not a big portion of health care costs, but it has been driving it up and grows faster than other costs. why do drugs cost so much? alex: it is complex, but over all pharmaceutical products have been a major contributor to the fact that people have had a 30-40 years onto lifespans, whether it is cardiovascular disease, oncology, we are living longer and dying later and finding more and more cures every day. and the greatest majority of those improvements can be attributed to pharmaceuticals, so when you look at overall health care expenditures, pharmaceuticals make up 14%, and that has been consistent over the last 20 years. 10 years, five years. you look at the rate of increases, it is also consistent. in fact,

is really needed, but can be defensive medicine, or we have a billing system that encourages overutilization three, what other drivers of costs? what about end-of-life care, the disease stages that are particularly demanding on the system, and had reform specialized care units around those to do a better job? those the things we need to do. david: what about pharmaceuticals? it is not a big portion of health care costs, but it has been driving it up and grows faster than other costs. why do drugs cost so much? alex: it is complex, but overall pharmaceutical products have been a major contributor to the fact that people have had a added 30-40 years onto lifespans, whether it is cardiovascular disease, oncology, we are living longer and dying later and finding more and more cures every day. and the greatest majority of those improvements can be attributed to pharmaceuticals, so when you look at overall health care expenditures, pharmaceuticals make up 14%, and that has been consistent over the last 20 years. 10 years, five years. you look at the rate of increases, it is also consistent. in fac