This new study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute caught my eye. Among the findings:

Higher health-care costs are causing about half of American adults to delay going to the doctor and about one-fourth to skip filling their medicine prescriptions.

Higher costs are causing many Americans to be more health-conscious. Eighty-one percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed in May and June said they were trying to take better care of themselves. That was up from 71 percent two years ago.

Higher costs also are sparking more discussion about treatment options and expenses, according to 66 percent of the respondents. That was up from 57 percent in 2005.

Among those who had health insurance through their employers, nearly two-thirds said they were required to pay more for their coverage this year than last.

Because health-care insurance and related costs are taking a bigger bite out of household budgets, nearly one-third of those surveyed said they were contributing less to their retirement accounts. More than half said they were saving less in general.

About one-third of the respondents said health-care bills were causing them to have trouble paying other bills.

Economists understand that incentives changes with costs. Only a health care system based on free market principles will create "good" incentives while discouraging people from taking unnecessary risks.