Priced Out

The Economic and Ethical Costs of American Health Care

De: Uwe E. Reinhardt, Paul Krugman - Foreword by, William H. Frist - Foreword by

Narrado por: Bob Souer

From a giant of health care policy, an engaging and enlightening account of why American health care is so expensive - and why it doesn't have to be.

Uwe Reinhardt was a towering figure and moral conscience of health care policy in the United States and beyond. Famously bipartisan, he advised presidents and Congress on health reform and originated central features of the Affordable Care Act. In Priced Out, Reinhardt offers an engaging and enlightening account of today's US health care system, explaining why it costs so much more and delivers so much less than the systems of every other advanced country, why this situation is morally indefensible, and how we might improve it.

The problem, Reinhardt says, is not one of economics but of social ethics. There is no American political consensus on a fundamental question other countries settled long ago: To what extent should we be our brothers' and sisters' keepers when it comes to health care?

An incisive look at the American health care system, Priced Out dispels the confusion, ignorance, myths, and misinformation that hinder effective reform.

©2019 Uwe E. Reinhardt (P)2019 Tantor

A great book for someone who studies healthcare and economics

Positive: Reinhardt’s experience and knowledge in healthcare makes this book worth it alone.
Negative: The reader was a tad dry and it did take me a few times listening through to fully understand some of the macroeconomics involved.
Overall: a great read 9/10

Not groundbreaking

A lot of what the author complains about is well known in healthcare. Too many administrators and governmental mandates eat up too much of each healthcare dollar. What does the author propose? No real good solutions in an American context. Too much “social” and “moral” pandering without discussion of moral hazards of community rating and other issues all presented to tug at the readers emotions. We don’t discuss car insurance and home insurance like this, and those markets work better than healthcare. I think the author was on to something but got lost in the weeds of “fairness” and “social good” and failed to see how focusing on that has created the monster failure known as Obamacare.

Somewhat Educational

There are numerous flaws within our healthcare system, some of them were highlighted in this book,

Somehow keeps failing to make obvious connections

Despite making a lot of good points about why healthcare is overpriced, he seems to do an awful Jon of taking these insights and finding reasonable solutions. He'll go from pointing out how there are too many administrative workers to ripping Republicans for not looking at all of this "job growth" positively.

he also seems to think full insurance is the answer and the question is what type of insurance. Having disaster only insurance like the car insurance model (you pay for basic maintenance like oil changes) isn't mentioned. Overprescription isn't mentioned. chronic disease caused by pesticides and chemicals isn't mentioned.