It is refreshing to see Congress once again try to tackle the affordability of American healthcare, even if it does seem an endless exercise that always occurs in a presidential election year. Healthcare is unaffordable for many reasons, thanks to the massive amount of taxpayer money in the system that serves to inflate costs. It is important for politicians to take action to protect taxpayers from some in the healthcare industry taking advantage of the system. One set of entities that has taken the taxpayer to the cleaners is hospitals.

Healthcare expenditures have been spiraling out of control for decades. They now represent more than $5 trillion in annual costs, a whopping $32,000 for each American family of four. This number represents about 18% of the United States’s gross domestic product, or just short of 1 in 5 dollars spent in the U.S. economy. It is political malpractice for Congress not to do more to defend taxpayers and voters who are unhappy with both political parties in Congress at the moment.