Why the American Health Care System Is in Need of Change

To start this blog off, let’s talk about one of the most relevant topics in American politics today: healthcare. As we are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, I thought this would be a good topic to kick off. I would like to discuss why the American health care system is in urgent need of change and how this change could come about.

Let’s start off with some facts:

• Many health care systems in the U.S. are privately owned and for-profit.
• On average, America spent $9,403 on healthcare per capita, which amounts to over 17% of the GDP, significantly more than any other developed country.  

• Health care coverage is provided by private companies for most people of working age. The two government healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid, are available only to those over 65 or whose income is insufficient to pay for health care. There is no universal health care coverage program provided by the government. As such, over 46 million Americans are uninsured.
• The high costs of health care in the U.S. cause many people to avoid seeking healthcare, which in turn results in over 100,000 preventable deaths. In a 2019 poll, over half of those interviewed said they put off going to a doctor due to high costs.
• 57% of Americans cannot cover suddenly spending $500.

So, as you can see, even in normal times, many Americans are unable to obtain health care, as the cost of obtaining health care in America is so expensive. Now, throw a pandemic into the list of problems and you can clearly see why America has so many coronavirus cases and deaths (we will discuss this in a future blog post). Before the government stepped in to help reduce the cost of coronavirus testing, a test could cause upward of $3,270!

If this cost was not so high initially, there may have been more people willing to take a test, which in turn would have reduced the number of coronavirus cases right from the beginning. Luckily, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now covered this cost, so many more people have access to a test, but this is only a band-aid solution that barely addresses the underlying problems in America’s health care system. However, even in March, many people are still being charged $200 for a test.

Ignoring coronavirus, the costs for medical treatment is even more insane. The HIV drug, for example, costs less than $10 in most countries, but cost over $2,000 in the U.S., despite American taxpayers footing the bill for its development! Not to mention the insane cost of having a baby in the U.S., or needing a few stitches, or just about any other medical treatment.

So what does this leave us with? Many studies have shown that despite the huge cost of health care in the U.S., Americans still continue to receive subpar medical treatment, especially when compared to that of countries like France, Japan, or Australia. As seen below, the life expectancy versus health care spending curve in the U.S. is significantly worse than that of other countries.

America also consistently ranks last among developed countries in terms of healthcare accessibility, efficiency, and equity.

What could be the solution to this problem? The answer is as simple as it sounds, and which has been suggested many times before: a single-payer health care system, or something like it. This basically means having the government cover health care for all American taxpayers, presumably through a program like expanding Medicare to everyone (“Medicare for All”). Although it is true that this would cost the federal government a lot of money, doing so would ensure fair, universal health care for all Americans. 

Those against universal healthcare say that such a system would result in increased wait times, degrade the quality of medical care, and cause overcrowding in medical facilities. However, take a look at the health systems of any country with universal health care, and you can clearly see that these claims are unfounded.

Alternatively, another solution could be to have a two-tiered health care system, similar to that of France, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Denmark. This system involves the government operating some hospitals to provide a basic level of health care to everyone, with secondary, private (and more expensive!) coverage available to those who can afford it. This system can also reduce costs in the long run as people who can afford expensive medical treatments will be more inclined to use private health care facilities, due to a higher quality of health care and shorter wait times, in turn reducing costs for the government.

A third alternative would be to make insurance coverage mandatory for all people living in the U.S. If people didn’t have a job that provided health care, or were not qualified for Medicare and Medicaid, they would be required by law to purchase a coverage plan. This would ensure everyone has insurance coverage and would be similar to how car insurance works.     

Some people say that this would mean the government will have to drastically increase spending for this to happen. This is obviously an undeniable fact. However, that is the responsibility of governments, to provide suitable services to their citizens. And a universal health care system, however costly it may be, is definitely a much-needed service to the American people.    

Do you have any ideas on how reform to American health care may take place? What are your thoughts on this matter? Let me know in the comments below! Make sure to sign up to our mailing list so you don’t miss any posts.