Table of Contents
Introduction Complaint: Unaffordable Healthcare 1
Part I History of the Present Illness and Review of Systems
1 The Age of Insurance 11
2 The Age of Hospitals 22
3 The Age of Physicians 55
4 The Age of Pharmaceuticals 87
5 The Age of Medical Devices 128
6 The Age of Testing and Ancillary Services 148
7 The Age of Contractors: Billing, Coding, Collections, and New Medical Businesses 166
8 The Age of Research and Good Works for Profit: The Perversion of a Noble Enterprise 182
9 The Age of Conglomerates 205
10 The Age of Healthcare as Pure Business 223
11 The Age of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) 230
Part II Diagnosis and Treatment: Prescriptions for Taking Back our Healthcare
12 The High Price of Patient Complacency 241
13 Doctors' Bills 248
14 Hospital Bills 261
15 Insurance Costs 280
16 Drug and Medical Device Costs 302
17 Bills for Tests and Ancillary Services 319
18 Better Healthcare in a Digital Age 321
Epilogue 328
Afterword 331
Acknowledgments 339
Appendix A Pricing/Shopping Tools 343
Appendix B Tools for Vetting Hospitals 346
Appendix C Glossary for Medical Bills and Explanations of Benefits 348
Appendix D Tools to Help You Figure Out Whether a Test or a Procedure Is Really Necessary 352
Appendix E Templates for Protest Letters 354
Notes 357
Index 401