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The Cost Conundrum
Article

The Cost Conundrum

What a Texas town can teach us about health care.

Atul Gawande
The New Yorker, 2009
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8

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Eye Opening
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Recommendation

Atul Gawande has recently become CEO of a health care joint venture founded by Amazon, BerkshireHathaway and JPMorgan Chase. The surgeon, public health researcher and best-selling author believes that the skyrocketing costs of US health care are a result of medical systems’ incentive structures. To find out how Gawande came to this conclusion – and to learn what ideas may shape the way he fills his new role – getAbstract suggests you join him on a fact-finding mission to the border town of McAllen, Texas.

Take-Aways

  • The United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world.
  • McAllen, Texas, which has the highest per capita health care expenditures in the United States, provides a case study for the dynamics behind America’s health care cost crisis.
  • Despite having similar demographics and quality of care as McAllen, the Texas town of El Paso spends only half as much on health care. 

About the Author

Atul Gawande is a practicing surgeon, best-selling author and staff writer for The New Yorker. In June 2018, he was named CEO of a health care joint venture owned by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.

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