TIME magazine has devoted its entire issue to the cost of medicine in the United States. The article is written by Steven Brill and entitled “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.” The well written issue is interesting and very important  but it can all be summed up in one sentence. Health care costs are too high in the States. That’s it. Evidence is provided but “too high” is the bottom line of the article. The cure is a lot less clear. The problem, as I like to point out to my own students, is that our business school students learn absolutely nothing about healthcare accounting. The result is that no-one knows the real cost of doing anything in a hospital. Sad! The result is a series of makeup costs that essentially rip off the unwary.