--- description: What I Learned From My $190,000 Surgery The author of "America's Bitter Pill" recounts his own experience with our broken healthcare system Time to Build... title: TIME Magazine: What I Learned From My $190,000 Open-heart Surgery image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b0ca393bed98170/698778a8a988caa0776abc09/brill-cover-final.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # In The Latest Issue (8 Jan 2015) by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2015 11:57 AM CUT  TIME Photo-Illustration. Medical tray: Fuse–Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 8, 2015 11:57 AM CUT [What I Learned From My $190,000 Surgery](http://time.com/3659191/what-i-learned-from-my-190000-surgery/ "undefined") The author of “America’s Bitter Pill” recounts his own experience with our broken healthcare system [Time to Build a More Secure Internet](http://time.com/3659180/time-to-build-a-more-secure-internet/ "undefined") Yes, anonymity is empowering. But escalating hacks and scams show that we need a safer alternative [French Officials Feared Attack Before Paris Shooting](http://time.com/3659197/french-officials-feared-attack-before-paris-shooting/ "undefined") French officials were concerned even before two gunmen stormed the office of “Charlie Hebdo” [The Irreplaceable Staff of _Charlie Hebdo_](http://time.com/3659196/irreplaceable-staff-charlie-hebdo/ "undefined") In France, these writers and cartoonists were as well known as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are to Americans [The Path to Peace](http://time.com/3659186/the-path-to-peace/ "undefined") Chaos in the Middle East is sowing the seeds for an unlikely alliance between Israel and the Arab states [_Selma_: The Making of History](http://time.com/3659198/making-selma-history/ "undefined") A vivid new film about Martin Luther King Jr. couldn’t come at a better time [Review: _Selma_ Is the Film of the Year — But 1965 or 2014?](http://time.com/3651009/review-selma-1965-2014/ "undefined") In Ava DuVernay’s retelling of Martin Luther King’s leadership in the Selma-to-Birmingham marches and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we see how much King achieved — and how little we have advanced [The 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time](http://time.com/100-best-young-adult-books/ "undefined") [The 100 Best Children’s Books of All Time](http://time.com/100-best-childrens-books/ "undefined") [Meg Wolitzer: My Debt to Sylvia Plath](http://time.com/3655035/meg-wolitzer-sylvia-plath/ "undefined") [Briefing](http://time.com/3659187/briefing/ "undefined") [These Are the Top 10 Geopolitical Risks of 2015](http://time.com/3652421/geopolitical-risks-2015-ian-bremmer-eurasia-group/ "undefined") TIME foreign affairs columnist Ian Bremmer provides a guide to the global storylines of the year, beginning with an unstable Europe [Jeffrey Epstein Case Settles Old Scores](http://time.com/3659182/jeffrey-epstein-case/ "undefined") A new lawsuit could revive a high-profile sex case [Most Cancers Aren’t Your Fault](http://time.com/3659183/cancer-not-your-fault/ "undefined") Random DNA changes are usually to blame [Bill Clinton Remembers Mario Cuomo](http://time.com/3659199/bill-clinton-remembers-mario-cuomo/ "undefined") Mario Cuomo’s America was one of community, compassion and responsibility [What I Learned on the Set of America’s Funniest Home Videos](http://time.com/3659190/what-i-learned-on-the-set-of-americas-funniest-home-videos/ "undefined") My audition to replace Tom Bergeron [America’s Bitter Pill](http://time.com/3659189/americas-bitter-pill/ "undefined") [What You Said About …](http://time.com/3659192/what-you-said-about/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3659240/in-the-latest-issue-18/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3659240/in-the-latest-issue-18/"},"headline":"In The Latest Issue (8 Jan 2015)","datePublished":"2015-01-08T11:57:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T19:52:09.078Z","description":"What I Learned From My $190,000 Surgery The author of \"America's Bitter Pill\" recounts his own experience with our broken healthcare system Time to Build...","url":"https://time.com/3659240/in-the-latest-issue-18/","keywords":["Healthcare"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b0ca393bed98170/698778a8a988caa0776abc09/brill-cover-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b0ca393bed98170/698778a8a988caa0776abc09/brill-cover-final.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Steven Brill Fix Health Care Time Magazine Cover 150119","caption":"Steven Brill Fix Health Care Time Magazine Cover","creditText":"TIME Photo-Illustration. 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