The US health system is subject to enormous disparities. At one level, sophisticated techniques are available to those with insurance (which they typically receive from their employer). The Texas Medical Center, in Houston, the epitome of high-tech medicine, has a budget equivalent to that of some small countries. On the other hand, infant mortality statistics in some parts of the country are at near-African levels.
Partly because of these disparities, reform has become a major political issue. But it has also been driven by the skyrocketing cost of care û the health sector now accounts for more than an eighth of the total economy.
