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The cover of America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System

America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System

Steven Brill

Why does American healthcare cost so much, and what happened when a president and Congress tried to fix it?

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At a glance

Author
Steven Brill

Why read it

  • You will see how backroom deals and special interests shape a law that touches everyone
  • You will understand why healthcare prices can be so high and what in the system protects them
  • You will learn how a law can pass and still struggle when it comes time to build the systems that deliver it

Who it is for

  • A patient puzzled by a bill that makes no sense
  • An employer or HR person who chooses health plans
  • A voter who wants the story behind the health law

Contents

  1. CHAPTER 1
  2. LOOKING UP FROM THE GURNEY
  3. CHAPTER 2
  4. CENTER STAGE
  5. March 2007–February 2008
  6. A SWAMP OF CORRUPTION
  7. THE DEMOCRATS MOVE RIGHT
  8. AMERICA TAKES A DIFFERENT PATH
  9. THE STARS ALIGN IN 2007
  10. THE BUS DRIVER AND THE CHARGEMASTER
  11. HILLARY’S SCARS
  12. THE DEMOCRATS’ NEW REPUBLICAN ALTERNATIVE
  13. THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL
  14. A BIPARTISAN CELEBRATION
  15. OBAMA TREADS CAUTIOUSLY
  16. THE GATE AGENT’S DAUGHTER
  17. A TOUGH INSURER HIRES A REFORMER
  18. CHAPTER 3
  19. MAX, BARACK, HILLARY, BILLY, AND THE GATHERING CONSENSUS
  20. March–May 2008
  21. “IS THERE ROOM FOR OLD TEDDY?”
  22. “SHAME ON YOU, BARACK OBAMA”
  23. AN UNUSUAL SENATE ALLIANCE
  24. “BILLY”
  25. INSURANCE COMPANIES AT THE TABLE
  26. ANOTHER ACCIDENT OF HISTORY
  27. CHAPTER 4
  28. “THIS IS WHAT I THOUGHT THE SENATE WOULD BE LIKE”
  29. June 2008
  30. THE MOON SHOT
  31. “NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT COST”
  32. A LESSON IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
  33. CHAPTER 5
  34. A NEW PRESIDENT COMMITS, AND HIS CAMP DIVIDES
  35. July–November 2008
  36. THE OBAMA STUMP SPEECH
  37. TRANSITION INFIGHTING
  38. ADDING ORNAMENTS TO THE HOOD OF A JALOPY
  39. THE LEFT-WING WONK AND THE KNOW-IT-ALL
  40. THE REAL CHIEF OF STAFF
  41. CHAPTER 6
  42. EVERY LOBBYIST’S FAVORITE DATE
  43. November–December 2008
  44. LOTS OF DETAILS, BUT DOZENS OF BILLION-DOLLAR QUESTIONS
  45. KENNEDY’S LOWER-KEY PUSH
  46. CHAPTER 7
  47. PUNTING TO CAPITOL HILL
  48. January–March 2009
  49. PEP RALLY IN THE EAST ROOM
  50. “A SEAT AT THE TABLE”
  51. OBAMACARE ON THE REPUBLICANS’ DINNER MENU
  52. CHAPTER 8
  53. DEAL TIME
  54. March–April 2009
  55. THE NONPROFITS’ PROFITS
  56. HOSPITALS, INC.
  57. THE WARY INSURERS
  58. FROM PACEMAKERS TO WHEELCHAIRS
  59. CHAPTER 9
  60. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: WHITE HOUSE TURF WARS, INDUSTRY DEALS, AND SENATE WRANGLING

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