Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary says American health care is broken. He makes the case in his new book, ----The Price We Pay,---- with tales of doctors talking patients into surgeries they don’t need, air ambulances hiding steep fees, and hospitals suing patients into bankruptcy over bills that were inflated to begin with.Makary says people without good insurance often are hit with huge bills they can’t pay. But he contends new ways of tracking data are starting to make fees more transparent, which opens competition and new designs for delivering care mean a better deal for patients.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472