Doctor Speaks Out Against US Healthcare System

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"From the New York Times bestselling author of Unaccountable comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America's broken health care system--and the people who are saving it.

"A must-read for every American." --Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES

One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research, and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of price-gouging, middlemen, and a series of elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable.

The Price We Pay offers a roadmap for everyday Americans and business leaders to get a better deal on their health care, and profiles the disruptors who are innovating medical care. The movement to restore medicine to its mission, Makary argues, is alive and well--a mission that can rebuild the public trust and save our country from the crushing cost of health care."

#TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks

[TheDamageReport]

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[arieldancer]

I've been a nurse in the medical field for 30+ years SO impressed with a doctor speaking the THANK YOU!!!

[ForsythJC]

I am one of these people the doctor and John are talking about. I am a veteran who gets disability and has health care through the VA. Three years ago I had to have an emergency appendectomy. The VA refused to pay for it because I went to the local ER instead of one of their clinics. I lived in St. Mary's County, Maryland at the time: the nearest VA to me was in DC and almost two hours north. The ER was 20 minutes away. So I drove myself there, all the while in incredible agony and trying not to projectile vomit everywhere as my appendix reenacted Chernobyl inside me. Afterwards, the VA wouldn't help me or pay for the bill, so the surgeon's office sued me for the bill. $6000 I didn't have. It destroyed my life. I wound up having to move to Ohio in 2018 to start over because trying to pay on the bill was financially crippling me. And now the agency got a court order and levied my bank account, so I'm locked out of my own money. Which lead to me two weeks ago going and filing bankruptcy. 35 years old with a 16 year Navy career, and this is how I was repaid by the government. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be filing Chapter 7, especially not at such a young age. But here I am. Sometimes I feel like the poster child for Bernie Sanders' campaign in reference to M4A.

[rickywilliams]

My wife is a doctor, he's not wrong. Hopefully voters are willing to wake up to it and fix the problems and only one candidate is offering a solution. Bernie 2020.

[ryanryckaert]

It's no joke. I know plenty of people who are afraid to go to the hospital because they know they can't afford it and don't want to get sued.

[danstumbo]

I broke my arm in 3 places on Christmas day.Ive been billed $67000 and haven't even started rehabilitation.This is a true event.

[bruce]

Health insurance should be number one on the list to fix, I work for a very large company and I am paying $800 a month and have to pay the first $4, 000 before anything is covered, also $45.00 for every office visit yes Hospitals and Insurance Companies are out of control, one way to fix it is have the company you work for pay for health insurance like they used to years ago, that was a great benefit they took away to boost their profits.

[michaelloveless]

This doctor is a brave man of high integrity!

[williamwallace]

Christ! So glad I live in the UK. Our wonderful and brilliant NHS! Can't imagine such a backwards and cruel thinking system as the States? If your sick and poor? Allowed to die. Makes me laugh when they carp on about being a Christian country? Such Hypocrisy!

[dominicbuckley]

The US needs to remove the profit motive from healthcare, as it actually acts as a disincentive from making patients better. The longer a patient is in hospital, the more meds are prescribed, the more profit is made by the hospitals, phamaceutical industry and the insurers.


As an example, my father collapsed while holidaying in the states a couple of years ago, and was admitted to hospital. Once he was stabilised, they ran few tests, but the results wouldn't be ready till the following morning. Next morning, said they wanted to do another test: that test wasn't done till late afternoon, so the results wouldn't be ready till the following morning. That went on for nearly two weeks, during which he found it increasingly difficult to stay awake, suspect sedatives in the food.
In the end, at his request, I came out to discharge him and bring him home to the UK. He couldn't walk, couldn't stay awake, and had to be taken in a wheelchair. We went straight to our local NHS hospital: we warned them ahead of time, and they had a bed waiting for us. The following morning, they conducted all the same tests that the US hospital had done, got the results, prescribed medicines all in the same day. Within 72 hours he was bright, alert, out of bed and walking again.
The bill from the US hospital was over $120, 000. I spoke with his UK doctor, and we went through the NHS internal charges system, which shows the actual cost of treatment, and it came to £18, 000 (about $22, 000). While I am incredibly grateful to the US clinical staff who saved his life, it is quite clear that once he was out of danger, the system used him as a "cash cow" rather than actually making him well enough to be discharged.


If the US had a healthcare system that actually concentrated on making people better, rather than making profits for shareholders, the costs would drop dramatically.

[fionladfinley]

Itemized bills are hilarious. Hospital charged me $55 per minute to be hooked up to a heart monitor that looked like it was from the 1970's.

[troyx]

My doctor very seldom likes to prescribe medication, he tells you to simply adjust your diet for a couple of weeks and see if works. Most of the time it worked for me.
He feels that big pharma is using MD's as drug pushers.

[AegixDrakan]

Every time I hear horror stories about healthcare in the states, I note to tell my grandparents "thank you for choosing to immigrate to Canada, and not the US".

[SheriMacAleese]

I was threatened with wage garnishment after surgery due to cancer. I had so many bills, I just couldn't keep up. I had to let credit card bills go, sell personal items & eat less so I didn't get my wages garnished. Now my credit is ruined. And I'm a single mom with a teenager who will need college money soon. What if my cancer comes back? No one cares. Certainly not doctors or hospitals. Definitely not my terrible insurance company.

[mikejunior]

The Healthcare system in the United States is a for profit system. That's why it's broken. For that to change it must become a for people system in which the outcomes work to the benefit of the patient.

[rpgspree]

It's nothing new. Growing up, the local hospital would often charge the insurance and patients, even when the insurance already paid. If you catch that BS and call them out on it, they'd usually drop the bogus bill. If you pay the hospital bill without checking with your company first, good luck getting a refund!

[jankelsey]

Great interview. I'm glad more healthcare workers, especially doctors and other healthcare providers, are speaking up about what we know is destroying our healthcare system.

[georgejay]

Finally, a doctor talking about the insane charges from these hospitals and physicians. We may want to blame the insurance companies for everything, but no one could afford to really had to pay out of pocket except billionaires.

[Jackr]

Ultimately you made your healthcare system profit centred rather than patient centred.

[daal]

This is one amazing doctor and gentleman.