There is something deeply unsettling about a healthcare system in which the patient can become financially sick before becoming medically well.
Just the other day, a neighbour rushed his elderly father to a well-known hospital after he complained of severe chest pain. The family assumed the hardest part was over once admitted. What followed was a bewildering maze of tests, consultations, procedures and bills. By the time the patient was medically stable, the family was financially shaken. Why haven’t policymakers asked this question yet: What happens when access to healthcare improves faster than the quality, transparency and value of the care being delivered?
