Final answer:
Healthcare costs have outpaced inflation due to higher medical service prices, fewer doctors compared to usage, employer burdened healthcare costs, expensive technology, and despite the Affordable Care Act, ongoing high costs and lack of universal coverage contribute to public dissatisfaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question addresses why healthcare costs have outpaced inflation and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). A key point is that, from 2000 to 2011, healthcare costs grew at double the rate of inflation. This growth has several reasons, including higher prices for medical services, a smaller number of doctors compared to other countries, and an inefficacy in the pricing system within the United States, where despite high spending, health outcomes are not as good as in other high-income nations.
A contributing factor might be that the cost of healthcare includes not just the price of goods and services but also reflects external costs like insurance premiums and the cost of technological advancements in medicine. Additionally, employers in the United States often bear the burden of healthcare costs, making products more expensive, and contributing to job outsourcing. This not only impacts consumer prices but also the overall economy, tax revenue, and federal spending—which in 2014, healthcare accounting for 24% of federal government expenditure.
Despite reforms aimed at controlling costs, like the Affordable Care Act, there is still public dissatisfaction, with a 2022 Kaiser Foundation poll indicating a 42% unfavorable view, possibly due to these sustained high costs and lack of universal coverage, as in 2015, over 32 million non-elderly adults were uninsured.