Most people blame doctors or insurance companies for the cost of healthcare.

But that’s not where most of the money actually goes.

In this episode, I break down the part of the healthcare system almost nobody talks about… hospitals.

Hospital care now makes up about a third of all healthcare spending in the United States. And over the past two decades, hospital prices have grown far faster than almost anything else in the economy.

So what’s really driving these costs?

We talk about price transparency, nonprofit hospital systems, government programs that quietly funnel billions into hospitals, and why the system keeps getting bigger and more expensive.

Once you see how the money actually moves through healthcare… you start to understand why costs keep rising.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why hospital prices have risen dramatically compared to other medical care
• The surprising reason many hospitals still hide their prices
• How certain healthcare programs quietly shift billions into hospital systems

Learn more about Dr. Marion Mass:

• https://free2care.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/report.pdf
• https://www.bucksindependence.com/author/marion-mass/

Chapters:

00:02 – Where the Money Is in Healthcare

00:10 – Why Hospital Costs Are Growing So Fast

02:34 – The Problem With Price Transparency

04:07 – Why Hospitals Resist Showing Prices

06:43 – The Truth About Nonprofit Hospitals

09:34 – Inside Hospital Executive Pay

12:42 – Government Programs Funding Hospitals

14:55 – How Hospital Consolidation Happens

18:00 – Why Hospitals Buy Physician Practices

21:27 – The 340B Drug Program Explained

27:34 – How Payment Systems Favor Hospitals

33:31 – Who Actually Represents Physicians and Patients

38:41 – Why Hospital Care Costs So Much More

43:48 – How Hospital Systems Became So Powerful