Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-294) and index.

Who killed health care? -- The day health care died -- Death by a thousand cuts -- Killer number 1: the health insurers, death at the hands of a dysfunctional culture -- Killer number 2: the general hospitals, death at the hands of empire builders -- Killer number 3: the employers, death at the hands of a "choice" of one -- Killer number 4: the U.S. Congress, death at the hands of those elected to represent us -- Killer number 5: the academics, death at the hands of the elite policy makers -- The right medicine: consumer-driven health care -- How it works -- Consumer-driven benefits: lessons from other countries and industries -- How to make it happen: the carrots, the sticks, the laws -- The carrots: let medical business entrepreneurialism bloom -- The sticks: let information flow -- A bold new consumer-driven health care system: the laws and their legislators.