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In my opinion, our inalienable rights should be restated as the title of this post suggests.  But despite my wishful thinking, health care costs continue to rise.  By 2030, the boomer generation will place 57.8 million people in the 66-84 age group, further burdening current government funding for Medicare.  The outlook is bleak, and the system needs fixing.  One idea for lowering health care costs is to move health services out of the clinic, and into the home.  New web-based services and personal diagnostic equipment now enable patients to receive medical care from the comfort of their living room.  Is it realistic this model will reduce costs and stick?  I'll cover the web-based services in this post, and follow up with another post on home diagnostic equipment. Web-based doctor's appointments are now available in several states.  For example, at $10 per month, and $50 per consultation, SwiftMD offers an online health care plan in New York and New Jersey.  Within 30 minutes of scheduling an appointment, subscribers have either a phone conversation or an online video chat with an available physician.  If prescriptions are required, the physician sends the request electronically to the pharmacy of the subscriber's choice.  A step further in service, Hello Health adds conveniences such as the ability to text, instant message, or tweet your doctor, and also offers clinic appointments or house calls for more serious conditions.  Both SwiftMD and Hello Health do not cover major medical expenses, so if the subscriber has to go to the emergency room or be admitted to the hospital, the cost is theirs.  Also, neither accepts insurance, but compared to ever increasing health insurance premiums and the number of uninsured patients, an affordable "pay for what you need" model may just work.