For the last five years of my life I have worked in healthcare. One of the biggest problems facing our nation today has been the ever-increasing cost of health care. If we fail to get costs under control, we risk losing the entire system, as well as potentially crippling our economy. For the sake of our future, we must find a way to reduce the cost of health care in this nation. Last year the average cost of an insurance policy for a family of four was $20,728.00 according to the Milliman Medical Index (2012 Milliman Medical Index, figure 1). According to Steve Hargreaves for CNN Money (2013, para. 1), the median household income for 2012 was $51,017.00. This means that the average American spends almost 40.62% of their healthcare premiums. This figure is simply too high to sustain. By comparison, the median household income in 2005 was $67,019 according to the United States Census Bureau (Median Income for 4-Person Families n.d.). The average cost of health care according to the Milliman Medical Index for 2005 was $12,214, or only 18.22%. (2005 Milliman Medical Index, Figure 1). The rate Americans spend on health care has more than doubled since 2005. If we don't find a way to control health care costs, this country cannot survive. that I have seen during my time in the healthcare industry is insurance fraud. An example of such fraud occurred about two months ago. I was receiving a phone call from a vendor who was upset that one of his claims had been denied even though all of his previous claims had been paid. In research with a partner plan it was determined that the claim was denied because this medical supply...... middle of paper ...... (2013) IMS Healthcare Study Indicates Declining Cost Curve for US medicines in 2012. Retrieved from http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/ims/menuitem.d248e29c86589c9c30e81c033208c22a/?vgnextoid=8659cf4add48e310VgnVCM10000076192ca2RCRD&vgnextchannel=437879d7 f269e210Vg nVCM10000071812ca2RCRD&vgnextfmt=default http://www2.costco.com/Pharmacy/DrugInfo.aspx ?p=1&SearchTerm=lipitor&Drug =LIPITOR Milliman (2005) Milliman Medical Index retrieved from http://publications.milliman.com/periodicals/mmi/pdfs/milliman-medical-index-2005.pdfUnited States Census Bureau, (undated) Median income for 4-person households from http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/statistics/4person.htmlU.S. Food and Drug Administration (2012) Facts about generic drugs retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/drugs/resourcesforyou/consumers/buyingusingmedicinesafely/understandinggenericdrugs/ucm167991.htm