Catastrophic care : how American health care killed my father--and how we can fix it / David Goldhill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goldhill, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical care, Cost of--United States.

Medical care, Cost of.

Medical errors.

United States.

Health insurance--United States.

Health insurance.

Health services accessibility--United States.

Health services accessibility.

Medical errors--United States.

Physical Description:

viii, 369 pages ; 20 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

Summary:

"A visionary and completely original investigation that will change the way we think about health care: how and why it is failing, why expanding insurance coverage will only make things worse, and how it can be transformed into a transparent, affordable, successful system. In 2007, David Goldhill's father died from a series of infections acquired in a well-regarded New York hospital. The bill was for several hundred thousand dollars--and Medicare paid it. These circumstances left Goldhill angry and determined to understand how it was possible that world-class technology and well-trained personnel could result in such simple, inexcusable carelessness--and how a business that failed so miserably could be rewarded with full payment. Catastrophic Care is the eye-opening result. Goldhill explicates a health-care system that now costs nearly $2.5 trillion annually, bars many from treatment, provides inconsistent quality of care, offers negligible customer service, and in which an estimated 200,000 Americans die each year from errors. Above all, he exposes the fundamental fallacy of our entire system--that Medicare and insurance coverage make care cheaper and improve our health--and suggests a comprehensive new approach that could produce better results at more acceptable costs immediately by giving us, the patients, a real role in the process."-- Provided by publisher.

"A visionary and completely original investigation that will change the way we think about health care: how and why it is failing, why expanding insurance coverage will only make things worse, and how it can be transformed into a transparent, affordable, successful system"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

How American health care killed my father

Island-speak. Eleven strange things we all believe about health care

The hidden beast. The myth of affordable care

The disconnect. The absence of consumers in health care

The fallacy. Why we always think we need more health care

The seduction. Forty-five years of Medicare

The mirage of efficiency. Why the cost curve won't bend

The tyranny of rules. Why everything is so complicated

Last gasp. The ACA and the insurance fixation

In search of balance. How should we pay for health care?

Green shoots. Foundations of a better system

Transition. Can we get there from here?

Mae West didn't know health care

Appendix 1. Unintended consequences

Appendix 2. Déjà vu

Appendix 3. Shifting the government's focus to better health.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-369).

Other Format:

Online version: Goldhill, David. Catastrophic care.

ISBN:

9780307961549

0307961540

OCLC:

793220616