The Price We Pay

New York Times bestseller
Business Book of the Year—Association of Business Journalists

From the New York Times bestselling author of Unaccountable comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America’s broken health care system—and the people who are saving it.

“A must-read for every American.” —Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES

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 the business of medicine and its 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 road map 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.

Author Biography

Dr. Marty Makary is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unaccountable. He is a leading voice for physicians in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today, and is Editor-in-Chief of Medpage Today. Marty has published extensively on medical innovation, quality measurement, special issues of vulnerable populations, and health care costs. He served in leadership roles at the W.H.O. and has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. He leads several national grants on health care transparency and the re-design of health care. Marty is the chief of the Johns Hopkins Center for Islet Transplantation Surgery and is the recipient of the Nobility in Science Award from the National Pancreas Foundation. Previously he served as founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Surgical Trials and Outcomes Research. Marty currently serves as chair of the advisory board of African Mission Healthcare. He lives in the Washington, DC area.