New reports last week underscore the critical need to rein in health-care costs. They are damaging the economy, squeezing American families and worsening the federal government's fiscal problems.

And as many health-care experts have observed, Americans aren't even getting their money's worth. The country ranks well behind many other countries on health measures.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported last week that health-care costs rank among Americans' top personal economic problems. Nearly three in 10 people reported that they or their families had serious problems paying for health care and health insurance as a result of recent changes in the economy.

Another new report, released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, brought the problem home for Missourians. That report found that family health insurance premiums in the state shot up by an average of 36 percent between 2001 and 2005. That was well above the national average of 30 percent.

The national and Missouri increases, however, are clearly unsustainable. For one thing, they have been badly outstripping the modest increases in income for many workers.

There is no single answer for runaway medical costs. Employers, elected officials and individuals will all need to focus in the coming years on a wide variety of solutions.

These should include:

• Greater efficiency and far less waste and duplication in the health-care system.

• A greater emphasis by employers on better options in employee cafeterias, weight-loss programs, informational programs and the like.

• Vigorous prosecution of medical fraud and heightened vigilance by consumers, businesses and the government for questionable charges.

• Expanded insurance coverage so that more people see doctors quickly when they have medical problems rather than rely on visits to emergency rooms.

• A greater emphasis throughout society on healthier lifestyles and preventive care.

• Smoother, more rational systems for storing patient data, dealing with insurance claims and billing patients.

Finally, substantial reforms will be needed in government programs, notably Medicare, that currently often drive medical costs higher.

— The Kansas City Star