Catastrophic Care Book Summary

In 'Catastrophic Care,' David Goldhill presents a provocative critique of the American healthcare system, exposing its inefficiencies and ethical dilemmas. He argues that the root of the crisis lies in the misaligned incentives and lack of accountability within healthcare practices. With a blend of personal anecdotes and rigorous research, Goldhill challenges readers to reconsider the deep-seated assumptions about health and economics. What if health insurance isn’t the answer? This compelling exploration invites readers to envision a future where healthcare is reimagined and reclaimed.

By David Goldhill

Published: 2013

"We must confront the inconvenient truth: our healthcare system is more concerned with the processes of care than with the outcomes of care."

Book Review of Catastrophic Care

In 2007 David Goldhill’s father died from infections acquired in a well-regarded New York hospital. The bill, for several hundred thousand dollars, was paid by Medicare. Angered, Goldhill became determined to understand how it was possible that well-trained personnel equipped with world-class technologies could be responsible for such inexcusable carelessness—and how a business that failed so miserably could still be rewarded with full payment. Catastrophic Care is the eye-opening result. In it Goldhill explodes the myth that Medicare and insurance coverage can make care cheaper and improve our health, and shows how efforts to reform the system, including the Affordable Care Act, will do nothing to address the waste of the health care industry, which currently costs the country nearly $2.5 trillion annually and in which an estimated 200,000 Americans die each year from preventable errors. Catastrophic Care proposes a completely new approach, one that will change the way you think about one of our most pressing national problems.

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We must confront the inconvenient truth: our healthcare system is more concerned with the processes of care than with the outcomes of care.

Catastrophic Care

By David Goldhill