Everybody agrees that something is wrong. Yet it remains remarkably hard to fix our $2 trillion healthcare system.

Part of the reason, obviously, is that a lot is at stake. Healthcare accounts for 16 percent of the economy, a far higher portion than in most other developed nations. Yet even though we pay more, the care we get is hardly better and in some cases worse than what's available elsewhere. President Obama's plans to improve the return on our healthcare dollar would affect the livelihood of millions—some for the better, and some for the worse. That makes healthcare reform an epic political battle.

[See why postal-style healthcare might not be so bad.]

But the sporadic availability and skyrocketing cost of healthcare are inherently vexing problems that have bedeviled reformers for 50 years. Here are a few of the factors that make it so difficult to revamp America's healthcare system:

Exorbitant costs are often hidden. The foremost problem with healthcare is its cost, which is rising at least twice as fast as overall inflation. Healthcare is becoming an unsustainably large part of the economy. Yet many of the people hurt most by this problem are oblivious to it.

Anybody trying to pay for medical care out of his or her own pocket knows how crushingly expensive it is. But those who have health insurance through their employer—about 61 percent of Americans—often feel as if somebody else is bearing most of the cost. Yet the real cost to workers is a lot higher than most realize.

As premiums shoot up from year to year, employers initially cover most of the increase in cost. But it gets passed on to workers in one way or another. Health insurance is usually part of an overall compensation package, which also includes pay. If employers are spending more on benefits, there's a good chance they're spending less on pay, in order to keep total compensation stable. That, in fact, is what's been happening: While healthcare costs have been skyrocketing, wages over the last decade have stagnated for the first time since the Great Depression.

[See the industries hurt most by soaring healthcare costs.]

The majority of Americans with insurance say they're satisfied with their healthcare. But chances are they're earning less money in exchange for satisfactory health insurance. There's even new evidence that soaring healthcare costs are killing jobs in industries with the highest rates of coverage, such as manufacturing, finance, and education. Pollsters should really ask Americans if they're comfortable giving up a raise, and maybe even their job, in exchange for decent healthcare. And whether they're willing to pay even higher roundabout costs in the future.

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