---
product_id: 104441638
title: "The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care--and How to Fix It"
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---

# The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care--and How to Fix It

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The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care-and How to Fix It [Makary M.D., Marty] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care-and How to Fix It

Review: Review of the text - Dr. Marty Makary’s "The Price We Pay" is a powerful and eye-opening investigation into the systemic dysfunctions plaguing the American health care system. A practicing surgeon and public health expert, Makary combines investigative journalism with medical insight to reveal the hidden forces driving up costs, diminishing trust, and ultimately harming patients. The book is not only an indictment of the status quo but also a hopeful blueprint for reform, offering a rare mix of critique and constructive solutions. At the heart of Makary’s argument is the notion that the U.S. health care system has evolved into a profit-driven industry where patients are treated as revenue sources rather than human beings. He explores how non-transparent pricing, medical billing abuse, unnecessary procedures, and predatory collection practices have created an environment where even insured patients often find themselves saddled with staggering debt. Through real-life stories—such as patients sued by hospitals over surprise bills or undergoing needless surgeries—Makary illustrates the devastating impact of these practices. Makary criticizes what he calls the "money games" in health care, pointing to how hospitals, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms engage in opaque negotiations and markups that inflate costs without improving outcomes. One particularly eye-opening example is his discussion of "middlemen" like pharmacy benefit managers, who profit from hidden rebates and incentives while patients pay the price. He also calls out the role of nonprofit hospitals that behave like aggressive corporations—reaping massive profits, lobbying against transparency reforms, and even suing low-income patients. What sets "The Price We Pay" apart is that it does not merely dwell on problems—it seeks out solutions. Makary highlights "health care rebels" across the country who are pioneering more ethical, transparent, and patient-centered approaches. These include employers who contract directly with providers to lower costs, doctors who abandon fee-for-service models in favor of flat-rate or subscription-based care, and institutions that eliminate surprise billing practices entirely. Equally powerful is Makary’s advocacy for a new cultural mindset in medicine. He argues that healing should return to its roots—focused on relationships, trust, and prevention. He champions transparency in pricing, reform in medical education, and greater investment in social determinants of health. Most importantly, he calls on physicians to reclaim leadership in driving reforms rather than ceding control to administrators and third-party payers. Stylistically, the book is accessible and engaging, combining policy analysis with gripping storytelling. Makary avoids jargon, making complex issues understandable for a general audience. The stories are emotional and often infuriating, but they serve a critical purpose: they humanize the consequences of a broken system. In sum, "The Price We Pay" is a wake-up call and a roadmap. It confronts the deep moral and financial failures in American health care with honesty and clarity while offering hope through examples of those who are changing the system from within. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with health, fairness, and the future of medicine in the United States.
Review: An absolute must read and glimpse into the perverse and unethical practices occurring in healthcare - Absolutely mind-blowing book. If you want an expert, data-driven, and shocking view of a few of the many factors that are driving up the costs of healthcare in America, and what can be done to stop the madness, you need to read this book. The book is now at the top of my list of influential books for the decade. Working in the healthcare industry myself and already having an inside view of how things operate, and knowing the ins and outs of fee for service vs. value based healthcare, etc, I thought I understood most of the key root causes behind increasing healthcare costs and decreased healthcare outcomes, but this book took things to a new level. After the first few chapters, I found myself utterly infuriated and outraged from specific examples of price gouging by some healthcare systems across the nation; downright criminal and greedy middlemen (insurance brokers and pharmaceutical PBMs or Pharmacy Benefit Managers with their hidden and obscene markups marketed as discounts); preditorial health screening of the elderly in churches; over-treatment by a small percentage of physician outliers who are gaming the system for personal gain and profit; for profit healthcare systems marking up their services to the point that patients are unable to pay and then either suing them or offering a 10% discount on their already 500% markup prices; and the overall perverse impacts of the lack of price transparency from those who have everything to lose by creating a fair and competitive marketplace. But by the middle of the book, Makary provides a glimmer of hope and some optimism based on the amazing work he and his colleagues are doing nation wide to combat perverse financial and medical practices, and force the healthcare industry to be incentivized on quality vs. quantity, price transparency vs. price gouging, data transparency, etc. Some significant steps forward have already occurred, outlined by Makary.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #89,402 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Health Insurance (Books) #296 in Internal Medicine (Books) #2,356 in Health, Fitness & Dieting (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,012) |
| Dimensions  | 6.5 x 1.4 x 9.55 inches |
| Edition  | 1st |
| ISBN-10  | 1635574110 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1635574111 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 288 pages |
| Publication date  | September 10, 2019 |
| Publisher  | Bloomsbury Publishing |

## Images

![The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care--and How to Fix It - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41gUskRJpcL.jpg)
![The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care--and How to Fix It - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71kmB+8mJ4L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review of the text
*by G***I on July 22, 2025*

Dr. Marty Makary’s "The Price We Pay" is a powerful and eye-opening investigation into the systemic dysfunctions plaguing the American health care system. A practicing surgeon and public health expert, Makary combines investigative journalism with medical insight to reveal the hidden forces driving up costs, diminishing trust, and ultimately harming patients. The book is not only an indictment of the status quo but also a hopeful blueprint for reform, offering a rare mix of critique and constructive solutions. At the heart of Makary’s argument is the notion that the U.S. health care system has evolved into a profit-driven industry where patients are treated as revenue sources rather than human beings. He explores how non-transparent pricing, medical billing abuse, unnecessary procedures, and predatory collection practices have created an environment where even insured patients often find themselves saddled with staggering debt. Through real-life stories—such as patients sued by hospitals over surprise bills or undergoing needless surgeries—Makary illustrates the devastating impact of these practices. Makary criticizes what he calls the "money games" in health care, pointing to how hospitals, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms engage in opaque negotiations and markups that inflate costs without improving outcomes. One particularly eye-opening example is his discussion of "middlemen" like pharmacy benefit managers, who profit from hidden rebates and incentives while patients pay the price. He also calls out the role of nonprofit hospitals that behave like aggressive corporations—reaping massive profits, lobbying against transparency reforms, and even suing low-income patients. What sets "The Price We Pay" apart is that it does not merely dwell on problems—it seeks out solutions. Makary highlights "health care rebels" across the country who are pioneering more ethical, transparent, and patient-centered approaches. These include employers who contract directly with providers to lower costs, doctors who abandon fee-for-service models in favor of flat-rate or subscription-based care, and institutions that eliminate surprise billing practices entirely. Equally powerful is Makary’s advocacy for a new cultural mindset in medicine. He argues that healing should return to its roots—focused on relationships, trust, and prevention. He champions transparency in pricing, reform in medical education, and greater investment in social determinants of health. Most importantly, he calls on physicians to reclaim leadership in driving reforms rather than ceding control to administrators and third-party payers. Stylistically, the book is accessible and engaging, combining policy analysis with gripping storytelling. Makary avoids jargon, making complex issues understandable for a general audience. The stories are emotional and often infuriating, but they serve a critical purpose: they humanize the consequences of a broken system. In sum, "The Price We Pay" is a wake-up call and a roadmap. It confronts the deep moral and financial failures in American health care with honesty and clarity while offering hope through examples of those who are changing the system from within. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with health, fairness, and the future of medicine in the United States.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An absolute must read and glimpse into the perverse and unethical practices occurring in healthcare
*by K***G on February 27, 2020*

Absolutely mind-blowing book. If you want an expert, data-driven, and shocking view of a few of the many factors that are driving up the costs of healthcare in America, and what can be done to stop the madness, you need to read this book. The book is now at the top of my list of influential books for the decade. Working in the healthcare industry myself and already having an inside view of how things operate, and knowing the ins and outs of fee for service vs. value based healthcare, etc, I thought I understood most of the key root causes behind increasing healthcare costs and decreased healthcare outcomes, but this book took things to a new level. After the first few chapters, I found myself utterly infuriated and outraged from specific examples of price gouging by some healthcare systems across the nation; downright criminal and greedy middlemen (insurance brokers and pharmaceutical PBMs or Pharmacy Benefit Managers with their hidden and obscene markups marketed as discounts); preditorial health screening of the elderly in churches; over-treatment by a small percentage of physician outliers who are gaming the system for personal gain and profit; for profit healthcare systems marking up their services to the point that patients are unable to pay and then either suing them or offering a 10% discount on their already 500% markup prices; and the overall perverse impacts of the lack of price transparency from those who have everything to lose by creating a fair and competitive marketplace. But by the middle of the book, Makary provides a glimmer of hope and some optimism based on the amazing work he and his colleagues are doing nation wide to combat perverse financial and medical practices, and force the healthcare industry to be incentivized on quality vs. quantity, price transparency vs. price gouging, data transparency, etc. Some significant steps forward have already occurred, outlined by Makary.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by W***R on February 11, 2023*

{topnotch review of what's wrong with American Medicine

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*Last updated: 2026-02-25*