Ralph welcomes investigative journalist, Marshall Allen, author of “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win,” your "guerrilla" guidebook full of practical ways to keep your costs lower and your satisfaction higher. Plus, Ralph updates the Congress Club.
Marshall Allen is an investigative reporter who has written for ProPublica and the Las Vegas Sun. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist (with co-author Alex Richards) for his work on the quality of hospital care in Las Vegas. His Allen Health Academy provides practical tactics to empower consumers and employers. His latest book is Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.
[Change to the healthcare industry is] happening slowly. But it’s controversial, because a lot of people have been making money the same old, same old way. And when you look at all that wasteful spending in the healthcare system– that’s the paychecks, that’s the bonuses, that’s the boats and vacation homes of healthcare executives. And so there are forces that are opposing this. And this is why it is a fight.
Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill
[American healthcare] is a product of a failed system, here. a lot of failed public policies that have been going on for decades. On the right and the left, our elected officials have completely failed the American people. And so, we’re in a position now, where I didn’t want to write another policy book. This isn’t about policies. This is about the reality of what is happening to working Americans every day.
Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill
Internationally, this book would go in the comedy section. Because, globally, our healthcare system is a total joke.
Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill
[Change to the healthcare industry is] happening slowly. But it’s controversial, because a lot of people have been making money the same old, same old way. And when you look at all that wasteful spending in the healthcare system– that’s the paychecks, that’s the bonuses, that’s the boats and vacation homes of healthcare executives. And so there are forces that are opposing this. And this is why it is a fight.
Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill
When you look at the pain that’s being caused to the American people, people are willing to fight back. People are willing to take the hassle. Because they’re doing this to fight for their own financial livelihood. They have to fight back, otherwise they’ll be bankrupted. And so, it is a hassle. It’s inconvenient. It’s a policy failure. It’s a failure of our elected officials. I wish it wasn’t the reality. But I think we have to do something about it. And thankfully, there’s a lot we can do.
Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill
On the healthcare industry] We’re dealing here with a corporate crime wave that is so intricate, so gamed, so premeditated, so capable of cooling out certain objectors (such as you recommend consumers who read your book to become), that it continually gets worse. So, it’s sort of like serial bank robbers who go from one bank to another, through a city, robbing the bank. And as they leave the bank, someone says, “Stop!” And they throw a $20 bill, and keep going, and rob the next bank.
Ralph Nader
Beating the Healthcare System