An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal

I don't think I've ever read anything like this before (or listened to it, since this was an audiobook). But oh my goodness, I am so, so glad that I did. This was one of the most eye-opening non-fiction books that I have ever read. I feel like I should buy a hard copy of it to keep on our shelves just in case we ever have medical issues or any sort of hospital or doctor's bills that we need to pay, because this gave so many reasons and ways that our current American healthcare system is broken, and some ways to try and mitigate those problems for ourselves. I feel so jaded about the whole broken system now, and disgusted by the people at the top of the pharmaceutical companies and hospital CEOs and doctors who are just trying to eke every last dollar from the people who end up at their door. It all just seems so unfair, from the fact that there's no pricing ever listed or explained anywhere, to the fact that we naturally place so much trust in doctors and hospitals and expect them to keep us and our children healthy and alive, without us understanding how they do it, so they can take advantage of us by making us pay thousands of dollars for something that costs $60 in other countries. It is kind of heart-breaking and scary to imagine all the consequences of this system and why it doesn't work any more.

I am grateful to have read this book, to help me become a more aware and conscious consumer. I do think well of our doctors (most of them--my endocrinologist's practice stinks) but I feel like these things are so good to know for any time we have unexpected expenses, like when Dane was in the hospital two years ago. I was so unquestioning and accepting of everything the doctors said; they kept him in the hospital for two extra days just for "observation" when he was fine and all they did for those two days was to offer overpriced Tylenol to keep his temperature down. I feel like all of the things she suggested in this book would be such commonsense changes and I wish there was a way they could be implemented without the whole healthcare lobbying industry stopping it.