I have an article in this week’s issue of CSG’s The Current State wrapping up the various perspectives on the prospects for infrastructure investment in 2018 that were proffered during Infrastructure Week last month in Washington. But another topic that received some attention from various I-Week speakers and participants involved something else emphasized in President Trump’s infrastructure plan issued in February: streamlining the process by which infrastructure projects receive the go-ahead to move forward, which can often produce years-long project delays.

Recent polls record the American public’s concern about health care costs—and analysis documents the increase in out of pocket costs, up 11 percent on average in 2017. Policymakers worry that national health care spending—reaching $3.3 trillion or $10,348 per person in 2016 according to the official federal estimate and accounting for 17.9 percent of gross domestic product—is unsustainable.

At a recent meeting I attended in Washington, D.C., a group of researchers and health care industry officials addressed the question “Why are Healthcare Prices So High, and What can be Done About Them?”

My biggest take aways were slides showing that 50 percent of healthcare cost increases are driven by the prices charged and that Medicare and Medicaid have been able to hold healthcare prices steady while private insurance has seen a 70% increase since 1996.