That was the question asked last week at the World Health Care Congress Europe.

And according to Maggie Mahar at the healthbeat blog , it presented a lot of surprising answers. The conventional wisdom is that decrepit, flabby and greedy boomers will put an enormous strain on the health care system and, if Governments are not careful, send it broke. But delegates at the conference were told that the boomers are only playing a tiny role in the price increase.

The biggest factor pushing the tab so much higher is all the new stuff coming on to the market for every age group, including new drugs, devices, tests and procedures.

Some of this stuff will be successful, and some of it not. But the point is that the supply side of the medical industry is pushing up prices.