The Brian Lehrer Show The Skyrocketing Cost of Health Care
Nov 14, 2025
Hayden Rook-Lay, a lawyer and senior fellow at Brown University with expertise in health care consolidation, dives into the complexities of America's skyrocketing health care costs. He explains how the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage but failed to address core financial drivers. Rook-Lay also critiques the rapid increase of employer-sponsored insurance relative to wages and discusses the inefficiencies stemming from corporate ownership in health care. He offers potential solutions like price controls and stresses the need to reform governance and ownership for lasting change.
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ACA Expanded Coverage, Not Costs
- The ACA expanded coverage but did not fix underlying healthcare cost drivers.
- That failure keeps costs rising for both ACA enrollees and employer-insured Americans.
Employer Coverage Costs Outpace Wages
- Employer-sponsored coverage costs have outpaced wages and inflation for decades.
- An average family plan now costs roughly $35,000, a large share of typical household income.
High Prices, Not Overuse, Drive Costs
- The U.S. doesn't overspend because people overuse care; prices and administrative waste drive costs.
- Americans often use less care than peers while paying far higher prices and admin overhead.