Overcharged : why Americans pay too much for health care / Charles Silver, David A. Hyman ; foreword by Jeffrey S. Flier, MD, former Dean, Harvard Medical School.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Silver, Charles, 1957- author.

Hyman, David A., author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States.

Medical care, Cost of--United States.

Medical care, Cost of.

Medical economics--United States.

Medical economics.

Health care reform--United States.

Health care reform.

Health Expenditures.

Health Care Costs.

Insurance, Health--economics.

Health Care Reform--economics.

Economic Competition.

Medical Subjects:

United States.

Health Expenditures.

Health Care Costs.

Insurance, Health--economics.

Health Care Reform--economics.

Economic Competition.

Physical Description:

xxii, 555 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Cato Institute, [2018]

Summary:

Why is America's health care system so expensive? Why do hospitalized patient receive bills laden with inflated charges that come out of the blue from out-of-network providers, or that demand payment for services that weren't delivered? Why do we pay $600 for Epipens that contain a dollar's worth of medicine? Why is more than $1 trillion-one out of every three dollars that passes through the system-lost to fraud, wasted on services that don't help patients, or otherwise misspent? Overcharged answers these questions. It shows that America's health care system, which replaces to make health care as expensive as possible. Prices will fall, quality will improve, and medicine will become more patient-friendly only when consumers take charge and exert pressure from below. For this to happen, consumers must control the money. As Overcharged explains, when health care providers are subjected to the same competitive forces that apply to other businesses, they will either deliver better services more cheaply or they will be replaced by someone who will. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1. Misdiagnosis : the problems Obamacare should have fixed: Patent nonsense ; No limits ; Vial misdeeds ; Don't go breaking my heart ; Money matters ; Integrity ; Providers and politicians ; Payment-induced epidemics ; Out of network, out of luck ; Making a killing on the terminally ill ; My doctor, my drug dealer ; Whac-a-mole ; Bad business ; An offer you can't refuse

part 2. Health care is expensive because it's insured ; Blind alleys and lost causes ; The retail sector will save us, if we let it ; Bargains galore in Bangalore ; Prizes, not patents ; Playing whac-a-mole to win ; Catastrophic coverage is good coverage ; Morality and health care.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 437-544) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Silver, Charles, 1957- Overcharged.

ISBN:

9781944424763

1944424768

OCLC:

1028581499