We tend to treat a lot of things as equivalent just because we have some statistic that we can use for comparison. I know it may sound shocking to some, but paying more does not necessarily mean that something is wrong. If I want a private hospital room, I want the services of a doctor that is in high demand, I want to use the latest technology, or I want something done faster and am willing to pay freely shouldn't I be able to? All of those things cost money, but are not accounted for when we are looking at the stats. You have to break things down into smaller pieces and figure out why things are more expensive before you can truly make an accurate comparison.