Summary of Elisabeth Rosenthal's An American Sickness

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 When Jeffrey Kivi, a chemistry teacher at New York’s prestigious Stuyvesant High School, was getting treatment for his psoriatic arthritis, which causes rashes and crippling arthritis, he was shocked to find that the charges posted by NYU were far beyond what he was expecting. #2 The explanations from NYU got even less convincing. They claimed that Mr. Kivi was an outlier, because he was getting aggressive treatment and he was large. But the wholesale price of Mr. Kivi’s dose of Remicade should only have been about $1,200. #3 Health insurance has evolved a lot since the days of the Blue Cross Plans. Nowadays, health insurance is used to cover the cost of medical treatments and procedures, as well as to protect patient savings. #4 The invention of ventilators and other effective treatments enabled a vast expansion of surgery suites and intensive care units. This meant more people could be saved, including soldiers injured during the war and victims of polio outbreaks.