The Ever-Folksy Bush Introduces a Sure-Fire Cure for High Health Care Costs:

Haggling

“And so you -- you talk to your doctor, you say, can't we find this drug at a little cheaper cost? Or you go to a specialist, maybe we can do this a little better -- old Joe does it for X, I'm going -- why don't you try it for Y? It allows you to choose treatment or tests that meet your needs in a way that you're comfortable with when it comes to paying the bills. In other words, decisions about routine medical treatments are made by you and the doc, not by third-party people that you never know. And all of a sudden, when you inject this type of thinking in the system, price starts to matter. You're aware of price. You begin to say, well, maybe there's a better way to do this, and [sic] more cost-effective way.”

I love this idea! I can’t wait to find a "doc" willing to give me cut-rate health care!

Or let’s say I have colon cancer, but I couldn’t afford catastrophic health insurance coverage. I’ve heard about a certain promising drug, and I want to try it, but it’s just too darned expensive. What to do? Why, I’ll simply jawbone Roche executive William M. Burns:

Me: “Hey, old Bill, how’s about you sellin’ me some o’ that there Avastin for x amount of dollars? I really, really want to live, but I just can’t afford to pay $100,000 a year.”

Old Bill: "As we look at Avastin and Herceptin pricing, right now the health economics hold up, and therefore I don't see any reason to be touching them.”

Me: "Dang it!"