One day, our grandchildren will look back on the damage wrought by corporate health care with an equal sense of bewilderment. They will learn that, early in the 21 century: 45% of all bankruptcies involve a medical reason or large medical debt; 47% of those denied authorization for emergency room care by their HMOs had unstable vital signs or other high risk indicators; Death rates and patient expenses are higher at for-profit hospitals than at nonprofit facilities; That doctors are actually paid money to withhold medical services; That in a solid economy, infant mortality rates for African Americans are more than twice as those of whites; And perhaps most baffling is the continued existence of a corporate system when 77% of Americans believe the "government should provide quality medical coverage to all adults..."

With extraordinary detail that is both readable and fascinating, Bleeding the Patient is a compelling argument in favor of a national health care program; a program that could cover everyone and provide better care for less than what we spend today.