Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-259) and index.

GOLD RUSH: Health fair -- Welcome to the game -- Carlsbad -- Two Americas -- The ride -- IMPROVING WISELY: Woman in labor - -Dear Doctor -- Scaling improvement -- Opioids like candy -- Overtreated patients like me -- REDESIGNING HEALTH CARE: Starting from scratch -- Disruption -- Buying health insurance -- Pharmacy hieroglyphics -- 4K screens -- Diagnosis: overwellnessed -- The words we use -- What we can do.

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.