What is the Cost to Bake a Chocolate Cake?
That probably sounds like a simple question to some, and a very difficult question to others. Personally, I think it’s …
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Why We Should Tax Nonprofit Hospitals
Over the past week, Broken Healthcare has received an unusually large number of new subscribers. When we looked at why, …
Our Doctors Are OUR Doctors
A friend’s teenage daughter is on her way to do gymnastics at a Division 1 school and has been dealing …
Change is on the Table
Not long ago I wrote that, “Change is in the Air.” Now it’s on the table. Earlier this week four …
Mary Washington Hospital: Poster child for Bad Behavior by Hospitals
Ran into the CFO of Mary Washington at the courthouse in Fredericksburg this morning. Sean T. Barden is his name. …
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Mary Washington Hospital’s “Proprietary Policy”
Dear friends, Yesterday, I paid a visit to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, VA. Had a nice lunch in the …
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Broken Healthcare Forces Hospital to Stop Suing Patients
Perhaps the biggest victory yet! While President Trump’s signing of a groundbreaking executive order on Monday was a big win, …
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Executive Order Signed, the Hard Work Begins
I have been contacted by many people asking for a full copy of the Executive Order signed by the President …
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Justice Department Finally Taking on Monopolies
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a warning to the Academy of Motion Pictures, effectively saying: “Don’t cross the line to …
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We, Not Me: How Healthy Markets Really Work
As the Federal Government prepares to implement new rules requiring greater price transparency in healthcare, the healthcare industry’s army of …
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We Just Want a Market We Can Trust
Just picked up my car from the shop. It was routine service, though I had told them to replace my …
CHA – Disguising Its Lobbying Efforts
You’ve probably never thought about it. Hopefully you will now. Here is a PDF report just out from the Colorado Hospital Association. …
Change is in the Air!
Happy New Year! I’ve been lying low for the past six months — ever since we had to withdraw the …
Dems Duped, Colorado Ballot Initiative 146 Dead
With a very heavy heart, I announce the death of Colorado Initiative 146: Healthcare Price Transparency. It could have been. …
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Why Medicare Will Never Run Out of Money
“We can’t get to the $4 trillion in savings that we need by just cutting the 12 percent of the …
Woman Tries to Reject Ambulance for Fear of Price
Here is a story that flies directly in the face of a common, albeit laughable, suggestion that “if people saw …
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Huge Blow to Unethical Hospital Billing Practices All Across the Country
Well done to the jury, the patient, and the attorneys who took on a Colorado hospital and won. You can …
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Healthcare Costs Are Responsible for Low Teacher Salaries
All over the country, teachers have been protesting due to inadequate pay. And all over the country, candidates for office—those …
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Healthcare Reform – Quotes from HHS Secretary Alex Azar
In early May, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, was delivering a speech to the Federation of American …
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Healthcare Spending is Rising Twice as Fast as You Think
Healthcare prices in the U. S. are growing twice as fast as you think. To understand this phenomenon, which should …
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Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part VI: Unbundling
Note: If you are new to Broken Healthcare or just want to catch up, we’ve put together this page with …
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The Link Between Healthcare and Education
Would you donate to the Broken Healthcare Action Fund to if it meant better and safer U.S. schools? For many …
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Tri-Partisan Support (Libertarian Party Endorses Healthcare Price Transparency)
Is Tri-Partisan a word? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter. Because all I really want to say is that Colorado’s …
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Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part V: “Out-of-Pocket” Costs
I know what you’re thinking: How can knowing your out-of-pocket healthcare costs be used as Weapon of Mass Corruption? Read …
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Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part IV: Legal Protections for Bad Behaviors
As is often the case, we somehow become our own worst enemies. While there are many unethical and immoral things …
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Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part III: The Explanation of Benefits
“A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” -Dalai Lama “Secrecy is the linchpin of …
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The Refreshing Side of Politics
During the past 10 months that I have been drafting, driving, and upgrading an important, but disruptive, piece of healthcare, …
Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part II: Perverse Insurance Incentives
If this doesn’t motivate business owners and employers to invest in this cause, I don’t know what will. In WMCs …
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Weapons of Mass Corruption (WMCs) Part I: Hospital Chargemasters
First, an Update Read below to understand a hidden, but powerful weapon being used against employers and patients alike. But …
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This is a Make or Break Week for American Healthcare
UPDATED 4/7/2018 9:38am MT “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected become as angry as those who …
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Say NO to Seeing Your Own Money Used Against You
The healthcare lobby is spending YOUR money to lobby against your best interests so they can pocket uneconomic profits. Please …
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The Pointless Politics of Price Transparency in Healthcare
The last several months—really the last year—has been quite a journey. We’ve come so far, and yet we are just …
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Help Us Make Sure Healthcare Price Transparency Becomes Law
If you’ve been following BrokenHealthcare’s efforts, you know this is what we’ve been working toward. Our non-partisan legislation is now …
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An Open Letter to Amazon, JPMC and Berkshire Hathaway
Dear Messrs. Bezos, Dimon and Buffet: We need your help in Colorado. Our legislature has taken up the most transformational …
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Minor Miracle: Transparency Bill Taken Up By CO General Assembly
House Bill 18-1358 was introduced yesterday. It’s a minor miracle unto itself and I’m grateful for the leadership of Representatives …
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Guns, Immigration, Abortion…and Healthcare Price Transparency
Did you gasp? Did you just say to yourself, OMG, I can’t believe he’s going there? Three third rail issues, …
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Do You #Trust Our Healthcare System?
#trust….that’s how I’m going to ask you to share this with friends. Because together, we’re going to build a healthcare …
The Most Important Game of the Year (and an Invitation to the Pep Rally)
It’s not the Super Bowl. It’s not the 7th game of the World Series. And it’s not the final curling match …
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Everyone is Getting On Board and Involved—Are You?
We are gaining great momentum. Many organizations are signing on to collect signatures in the workplace, whether from employees, customers, …
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Why Everyone Supports Price Transparency in Healthcare
Democrats like its consumer protection and patient empowerment features. Republicans like it because it’s so pro-business. And Libertarians like it for its …
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Wow! Thank You for the Unbelievable Outpouring of Support!
Wow! I’m floored, and extremely energized, by the response to my message about the shadowy activities of healthcare executive, Deborah …
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Don’t Pay Any Attention to that Woman Behind the Curtain
Who is Deborah Farrell? You might want to know. Deborah Farrell is the woman doing the bidding of the largest …
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How’s the Fight Going?
I’ve had many people write me lately, asking for an update on progress with the ballot measure. The truth is …
It’s Not About Shopping Around
There are many fallacies standing in the way of healthcare price transparency, not the least of which is the suggestion …
Help Me Change America’s Healthcare System
December 7th is a date that has lived in infamy for 76 years, as a remembrance of the day the …
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What Anthem’s New Imaging Policy Really Means
Anthem Inc., the largest for-profit managed healthcare company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, has struck again. The insurer has announced …
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Why You Should Care About Bundled Care
While the ACA (Obamacare) and the frustrated efforts to repeal it often grab headlines, there is another quiet, healthcare rollback …
Are Pharmacies Misleading Consumers?
The issue of healthcare price transparency made headlines last week thanks to two important class-action lawsuits against two different drugstore …
Do You Know Your State Medical Billing Laws?
At BrokenHealthcare.org, we are trying to force price transparency by helping patients dispute and deny payment for confusing and error-filled …
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Medical Price Checking Tools: Worth Your Time?
In my previous post, I suggested two tools to help you evaluate the service and safety of your local hospitals …
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Is Your Hospital Safe and Effective?
At BrokenHealthcare.org, we are trying to force price transparency by disputing and denying payment for confusing and error-filled medical bills …
Mistreated
The cost of healthcare in the United States is rising; this isn’t news. Many of us console ourselves by saying, …
American Sickness
We launched BrokenHealthcare.org publicly in January of this year. Since then, the attention it has received has been wonderful, and …
Drowning in Alphabet Soup
How BCRA, AHCA and ACA All Miss the Mark June 22, 2017 was the day that the public and most …
Our Battle Cry
Since I established BrokenHealthcare.org, a good friend has asked me, on a number of occasions, if I’m just an angry …
What Happens When Doctors Only Take Cash
When Art Villa found out, after one too many boating accidents, that he needed a total knee replacement, he began …