The U.S. Health Care System -- We need to know more

Amidst today's rampant talk about economic policy, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that our country is undergoing an unprecedented reform in another important arena: health care policy. The expansion of health care benefits has been a primary issue for President Obama and his administration since day one. The US health care system is currently a complex, capitalistic-minded structure, inundated with misaligned incentives and gross cases of information asymmetry. Additionally, the system needs to be modernized. With the advent of products such as Google Health, (no plug intended) people will be able to have full knowledge and control of their health information—a crucial step for both individuals and the system. However, instead of the knowledge lying with consumers, it sits in the hands of health care companies, leaving consumers with a lack of understanding of how to choose, finance and use their own health care. It's a sad case that so many people don't fully understand the health care system, including myself. Consumers need to become educated about the costs and benefits associated with health care decisions. An article title "Why Consumers -- Not Companies -- Should Make Health Care Decisions" speaks on this sentiment. Whatever changes the new administration makes to our health care, I hope they are able to improve the average person's understanding of the system—it'll benefit us all.