Dr. Weil on Health Care in America
Dr. Andrew Weil is a wellness expert and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. His book, "Why Our Health Matters," tackles the inefficiencies and quality gaps in our current health-care system.

Why has our health-care system become so expensive?
In the 1950s, when doctors made house calls and were not dependent on high-tech methods of diagnosis, the average working person could afford excellent care.

With the growth of technology and the rise of the health insurance industry, health care in the United States has grown more expensive. Hospital costs, increased reliance on expensive diagnostic hardware, increased use of pharmaceutical drugs, and the rising cost of health insurance are the major contributors to the astounding cost of health care.

Why has prescription drug use led to cost increases?
Doctors and patients in our country want quick fixes, and as a result they turn to prescription drugs to treat non-acute problems. Many of these problems really don't require prescription drugs. Additionally, the use of insurance co-pays has led to rising costs. Patients don't bother to find out medications' full costs, so they become consumers of health-care products that are unnecessary, and sellers charge whatever they want.