Your point might be correct for the majority of the world's population but certainly not for the US...You don't think technology equals wealth, really? I'm surprised to find people who think that at HN. Think about how much would you pay for a sony walkman today vs. 20 yrs ago.
In that same vein, how can you calculate the cost of healthcare for technologies that did not exist 20 years ago? How do you compare the cost of a McMansion to the kinds of houses (tiny) that were being built 20 years ago? You can't. So instead people look at numbers they can calculate, and draw limited conclusions. It's a sort of selection bias based on what kinds of data we know how to work with.
In that same vein, how can you calculate the cost of healthcare for technologies that did not exist 20 years ago? How do you compare the cost of a McMansion to the kinds of houses (tiny) that were being built 20 years ago? You can't. So instead people look at numbers they can calculate, and draw limited conclusions. It's a sort of selection bias based on what kinds of data we know how to work with.