When it comes to health care, there's no correlation between what we, our employers, or our insurers pay and the quality of care that we get. Where you live determines cost more than quality.

Take Pennsylvania for instance. The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council recently published a report on hospital pricing and patient outcomes. Two Philadelphia area hospitals were the highest paid ($100,000 for heart bypass surgery) and had higher-than-average death rates. Some hospitals in other parts of the state had better outcomes (shorter hospital stays and lower death rates) at $20,000 for the same procedure.