NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money.

I'm Adrienne Ma.

And here today joining us is NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspen.

Hey, Maria.

Hey there.

You're here because you have spent a lot of time covering the broken business of U.S. health care.

Yes, it is such a cheerful topic.

Uh-huh.

Well, as we know, the U.S. has the most expensive health care in the developed world,

and the prices we pay for health insurance are getting even worse.

I'm actually here today, though, to talk about a little bit of good news. And it starts with

drinking fancy cocktails. Okay. Are you saying that we basically need to distract ourselves

from how expensive healthcare is getting? I mean, look, dealing with my insurance company can definitely make me want to drink.

And I grew up with this health care system.

People who moved to the United States from other countries, like Canada, can go through

some serious sticker shock.

It's like, whoa, like, this is a wake-up call, and this isn't cheap.

This is Ryan Close. He's Canadian, but he runs a Chicago startup called Bartesian.

And this is where I assume the fancy drinks come in.

Bartesian sells a machine that makes you cocktails at home with a push of a button.

But I actually talk to him because his company also has some unusually great

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