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We're back with steven brill. i mentioned before the break something called the charge master. it sounds like a character out of ghost busters. the key master. what is the charge master? >> it's this thing nobody knows about except if you're in the medical world everybody knows about it. it's this massive three, four, 10,000 item list of the list prices that every hospital charges. so for a tylenol pill they might charge 1.50 even though it costs them less than a penny. for a transfusion of a drug it could be 10 or 15,000. those are the list prices. they use that to tell insurance companies we...

Consistency for any of the prices. no hospital administrator can tell you how they got the prices. it's not based on cost or based on anything. it's really a symbol of the fact that this isn't the marketplace. they feel no obligation to explain it and they can't because they literally can't explain it. >> this is like the charge master might say okay, we're going to charge $10,000 for a heart stint in this hospital. another hospital might charge 5,000. >> it would be 2,000 at another hospital and yet the hospital where it's 2,000 could charge six times what the other hospital charges for somet...

Afford it the government is going to subsidize the premiums. the costs are going to go up. it does nothing to attack the $13,000 price for the drug transfusion or the $77 price for the gauze pads. it does nothing to deal with it. >> wow, when we come back, i want to ask you about something called the charge master. i find that to be one of the

Consistency for any of the prices. no hospital administrator can tell you how they got the prices. it's not based on cost or based on anything. it's really a symbol of the fact that this isn't the marketplace. they feel no obligation to explain it and they can't because they literally can't explain it. >> this is like the charge master might say okay, we're going to charge $10,000 for a heart stint in this hospital. another hospital might charge 5,000. >> it would be 2,000 at another hospital and yet the hospital where it's 2,000 could charge six times what the other hospital charges for somet...

Up and for people that can't afford it the government is going to subsidize the premiums. the costs are going to go up. it does nothing to attack the $13,000 price for the drug transfusion or the $77 price for the gauze pads. it does nothing to deal with it. >> wow, when we come back, i want to ask you about something called the charge master. i find that to be one of the most fascinating things that you uncovered in your study and can't wait to get to it. we'll be right back with steven. stay with us. so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. angie's list -- reviews you can trust....