Time to change the subject in America's health care debate?

There's no shortage of pressing issues, including prescription drug prices, high insurance deductibles and long-term care.

[...] it's difficult to start new conversations when political divisions are so raw, and there's a big disconnect between what people perceive as problems and the priorities of policymakers, business and the health care industry.

Nearly three-quarters of the general public see prescription drug costs as unreasonable, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

Economist Len Nichols of George Mason University in Virginia says the cost of new medications is "unsustainable," but government price controls could stifle innovation.

"When people ask me what is the No. 1 change I want to make in the Affordable Care Act, my answer is that it's not affordable enough," said John McDonough, a former Democratic Senate aide who helped steer the health law to passage.

"The people who are going without coverage in states whose leaders are denying them a chance to get Medicaid are pawns in a political game," said former California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, one of the main authors of the health law.

Economist Gail Wilensky, an adviser to Republicans, says the patchwork system for caring for frail older people and the disabled "is an issue that isn't going away."

Revamping the way hospitals and doctors are paid for their services is the top issue for employers, insurers and government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

The government has its fingers in practically every pot, with a jumble of laws and regulations that create conflicting incentives, said economist Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan public policy center.