KevinMD (love to love his blog, love to hate his health policy!) has never really explained himself as to why he agrees with John Stossel that HSAs will make any type of dent in our health care costs, and Shadowfax takes them both to task for it .

The acutely ill do not make health care decisions and are not responsive to costs. I repeat.
The acutely ill do not make health care decisions and are not responsive to costs.

Just like Shadowfax says–the guy possibly having a heart attack, or the incredibly sick patient with pneumonia who’s going to the ICU is not in any position (or state of mind) to determine if he should get the generic or the brand name antibiotic; if he should have a foley catheter placed; if he should have heart surgery or just stenting.

And one other point to add to Shadowfax: The Most Important Health Care Graph:

Us fairly healthy folk cost next to nothing for the health care system. Deciding whether we need a chest xray or not is like taking a grain of sand from the beach.

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