Health care has a stranglehold on the US economy, dominating our annual national spending with unsustainable, out-of-control growth that dangerously outpaces our country's economic growth. Of the $4.5 trillion Americans will spend on health care this year, hospitals will grab the biggest share nearly one of every three dollars. That's triple the amount Americans spend on prescription drugs. Yet hospitals have avoided the scrutiny of lawmakers and the media while extracting massive amounts of revenue from their communities with little accountability regarding cost and expansion. As journalist and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal says in the movie, "Hospitals get off scot-free." American Hospitals examines the economic incentives of an industry that is charging outrageous fees while sitting on billions of dollars in accumulated cash while 100 million Americans suffer from medical debt. Hospitals are the driving force that makes the average cost of a family health insurance policy exceed $22,000, plus additional out-of-pocket expenses for deductibles and copays in the many thousands of dollars.
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