“That system, with its lines of alphanumeric codes and arcane medical abbreviations, has given birth to a gigantic new industry of consultants, armies of back-room experts whom medical providers and insurance companies deploy against each other in an endless war over which medical procedures were undertaken and how much to pay for them. Caught in the crossfire are Americans like Wanda Wickizer, left with huge bills and indecipherable explanations in languages they cannot possibly understand.” Want to understand why health care is so remarkably expensive in America? Let’s start at the beginning. Not the beginning of the illness or treatment. The beginning of the bill. After your doctor tells you what you have, you better get a second opinion, from a math PhD. From the NYT: Those Indecipherable Medical Bills? They’re One Reason Health Care Costs So Much.