Money-Driven Medicine

In 1982, Paul Starr ended his classic book on healthcare, The Social Transformation of American Medicine, by saying, “The failure to rationalize medical services under public control meant that sooner or later they would be rationalized under private control. Instead of public regulation there would be private regulation. Instead of public planning, there would be corporate planning.” And the rationale behind that planning, Starr suggested, would be not greater health, but “the rate of return on investments.” The result, he predicted, would be “the corporatization of American medicine.”

This is where we are today, shows Mahar. The medical-industrial complex now consumes $2 trillion a year, a full 15% of the nation’s GDP. And out-of-control healthcare costs are one of the main reasons Americans file for personal bankruptcy today. Mahar presents a system that fails to deliver affordable care for those who need it and superb care for those who can afford it; a system that enrages doctors and confounds hospital corporations and insurance companies; a system that is failing all Americans.