Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: A nation of shoppers : shopping our way to a better health care system -- An ode to shopping : how we buy everything -- This is not Nordstrom : how American health care fails consumers, and why shopping for health care is so difficult -- How does that make you feel? How psychotherapy functions as a free market and what we can learn from it -- Shopper, know thyself : how different types of people engage with health care differently -- How much will this cost? How to find -- and read -- the health care price tag -- A healthy bargain : negotiating our way to lower health care costs -- Who's in charge here? How consumers are left alone to navigate their own health care situations -- Listen! Why consumers' own voices are often overlooked and what we lose as a result -- Don't you know who I am? How consumers define health care quality differently from the industry and why it matters -- Should my boss control my health care? Untangling health insurance from employment -- Speak our language : how jargon keeps consumers out of the loop and how to reclaim the language of health care -- It's no Kayak : why choosing health insurance is so hard for humans -- Money-back guarantee : how to get what you pay for -- Everyone has teeth : why dental care and coverage are separate from everything else, and why that needs to change -- Keep your government hands off my Medicare! What everyone else can learn from savvy seniors -- Attention shoppers! How to move the health care market with your wallet.