Over the last half century, medical science has dramatically improved throughout the world. While costs have risen in all western countries as new technologies have been widely adopted, costs in the United States have risen much more than they have in any other country. Despite using fewer resources (numbers of physicians and nurses, hospital beds) than do peer countries, per capita spending on health care in the United States is double that in similar countries. The major driving force behind this difference is that we in the United States pay much more for the same products and services.