Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 19, 2011

Patients and their caregivers are uniquely positioned to recognize inefficiency in the healthcare system but are seldom empowered with information they need to reduce harmful spending. With the help former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, former White House Budget Director Peter Orzsag, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, women?s health advocate Dr. Susan Love, and Harvard University Provost and health economist Alan Garber, Costs of Care (http://www.CostsOfCare.org) launched an innovative essay contest this Fall aimed at elucidating both the challenges and opportunities to save patients? money with routine, cost-conscious medical decisions.

From Labor Day through November, Costs of Care gathered more than 100 personal stories from patients, nurses, and doctors across the nation. The following submissions were selected as finalists: