It’s Not Usage—It’s the Price Tag

Why does a hospital charge $800 for a $1 saline bag? Americans don't use more healthcare than people in other wealthy nations—we just pay drastically higher unit prices. In this episode, we unpack the economic engines driving high medical bills: Chargemasters, hospital consolidation, CPT code gaming, prior authorization, and medical debt. Plus, a 5-step roadmap to audit and negotiate your hospital bill.SourcesReinhardt et al. (2003): It’s The Prices, Stupid (Health Affairs)Cooper et al. (2019): Hospital Prices & Consolidation (QJE)Himmelstein et al. (2020): U.S. Administrative Costs (Annals of Internal Medicine)AMA Survey: Prior Authorization Impact on PracticesPrice Benchmarking: Fair Health Consumer | Healthcare BluebookProtections & Charity Care: CMS No Surprises Act | Dollar ForGot a billing nightmare or prior auth battle to share? Email us at [email protected].