Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic vice-presidential candidate, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1998. She writes about her experience in the October 29 issue of Newsweek. She uses her experience and the experience of others with this type of cancer to argue for a “conversation” on health care reform.

She thinks it is unfair that Americans subsidize cheap drugs in other countries, but implies that America should therefore regulate prices in the same way.

Uninsured myeloma patients can’t afford the treatments they need, but Ferraro admits, “I couldn’t tell you the price of my treatment since my diagnosis, but it hasn’t been an issue because I have insurance. When the insurance doesn’t cover it, I write a check.”

Her attitude demonstrates one of the problems on the demand side of health care. There are at least three problems in the American health care system and we need to have an honest discussion of these problems – not just their symptoms but their causes.

“The price of silence is too high,” Ferraro writes. She is right. Even more importantly, the silence of prices is too costly.