Our health care system is broken. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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Dear reader,

Health care is a unique consumer market. Unlike other sectors of the economy, few people are ever inclined to shop around for the best deal, instead following the advice of their doctor and using the hospital where their doctor practices.

Even if you did want to find the provider with the best prices, good luck trying to find that information. Hospital pricing isn't designed with the best interests of patients in mind. It's intentionally opaque and primarily designed to squeeze as much as possible out of patients and public coffers alike, prioritizing profit over patient care. Hospitals have a practically infinite number of possible prices for the same procedure, fueled by personal data collection and corporate greed from insurers looking to get as big a piece of the pie as possible. This elaborate system of price manipulation explains why the United States spends far more on health care than the typical OECD country, while maintaining stark disparities in access to care.

For our June 2024 print issue, Robert Kuttner sheds light on our exploitative system of hospital pricing, impenetrable to patients and regulators alike. You can read the full story here. [link removed]

READ MORE >> [link removed]

Tomorrow on the Prospect Weekly Roundup, our live weekly YouTube show, I'll be talking with The Capital Forum's Antitrust Correspondent and former Prospect fellow Jarod Facundo about his piece on grocery pricing for our June 2024 special issue, and how all the pricing strategies we've reported on over the past two weeks-junk fees, price fixing, shrinkflation, personalization and data collection-come together at the grocery store.

We hope you'll join us for what will be a great conversation! We'll be going live tomorrow at 12:30 ET. Click here to watch the livestream when it starts. [link removed]

WATCH THE LIVESTREAM >> [link removed]

While all of our work is available online to the public for free, we can't do it without the support of our readers. As an independent magazine, we don't have private equity backers or corporate sponsors funding our newsroom. All of our reporting is made possible by our members, who chip in a few dollars a time to help power our reporting on ideas, politics and power.

This is a pivotal election year, and independent journalism that prioritizes readers over corporate interests will be more important than ever. We need to make sure we have the resources to continue reporting on the most important stories in Washington and beyond, and that's why we're asking for your help.

If you're already a member, thank you for your support!

We need your ongoing support to make reporting like this special issue a reality. Will you become a member today to support independent journalism during this crucial moment? [link removed]

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Thanks for being a part of this,

David Dayen
Executive Editor
The American Prospect

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