The secret committee behind our soaring healthcare costs

In 2012, national health care spending in the United States reached $2.8 trillion, or more than 17 percent of the country's gross domestic product — more than any other industrialized country. And yet overall our citizens aren't healthier than those in other industrialized countries. Of course, there are a million complicated reasons for this: Generally speaking, prices in the United States are just higher than those in other countries. In addition, the payment system is fragmented and includes a mix of government funding and private third-party payers, which leads to huge variation in cost for the same medical procedures.