April 30, 2022
By Mirka Cuadros
Editor
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the national health care discussion, amplifying the high expense that remains a burden to American families.
A major survey by Pew Research Center found that 76% of Americans want major health care change and system reform. Many Americans are cutting back on household expenditures to pay for the treatment they are now receiving, with roughly one in five Americans skipping some health care in the previous year due to cost.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 46% of the population struggles to pay for dental treatment, and another 46% struggle to pay for out-of-pocket charges not covered by their insurance. These percentages are substantially higher compared to expenses such as food, gasoline, mortgage or rent, and other monthly utilities. In addition to these costs, a third report difficulty paying for hearing or vision care, while a quarter say the same about their prescription drugs.
Among the insured, about a quarter say their monthly premium is difficult to afford. Those with lower incomes as well as Black and Hispanic adults are more likely to report difficulty affording some medical costs.
Among the top 11 wealthiest nations, the United States’ health care comes in last in terms of quality. Despite the cost, Americans are not receiving higher quality care.
Many Americans lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and because health insurance is often tied to employment, they lost their health insurance coverage. As of May 2020, about 16.2 million people in the United States had become uninsured after losing their jobs to Covid-19. The pandemic intensified the burden on America’s very complicated and costly health care system, making cost reduction even more important.
Health care costs in the United States are among the highest in the world, with hospital charges growing at a higher rate than professional salaries. Other countries’ pharmaceutical and health care prices are regulated at least in part by the government. However, prices in the United States are exclusively set by market forces, which explains why prescription pharmaceuticals cost around four times as much in the United States as they do in other affluent nations.
Among the top 11 wealthiest nations, the United States’ health care comes in last in terms of quality. Despite the cost, Americans are not receiving higher quality care. The United States has the second-highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations. This is a crucial measure of health care quality.
Because lobbyists in the health care sector guarantee the government does not control the industry, health care in the United States is extremely expensive. When pharmaceutical firms demand exorbitant fees for life-saving medications, we blame the companies rather than the government for allowing corporations to turn health into a commodity. However, many members of Congress have vested interests in the health care industry and profit from it.
Despite spending more on health care than any other country, the United States does not yield similar results. In comparison to peer countries, the United States has poor health results, which include shorter life expectancies and high suicide rates. The situation is exacerbated by a growing prevalence of chronic diseases and obesity, but the United States health care system is also failing to do its part.
Reduced health care expenses should receive more attention. The United States should learn from other industrialized countries’ cost-cutting strategies, such as a value-based pricing system. The U.S. government should also improve access to health care, as the United States has a lower rate of physician visits than other countries despite its population appearing to have bigger health demands.
The United States’ health care system is the most expensive in the world, but Americans continue to live unhealthier and shorter lives than their counterparts in other high-income countries. To solve the problem, more efforts are needed to cut expenses, enhance affordability, increase access to essential treatment and address the risk factors that are negatively impacting people’s health outcomes.
