Participants hold signs in the Medicare for All Rally in Los Angeles California on February 4, 2017.
The Costs of Our For-Profit Healthcare System Continue to Rise
Every other developed country guarantees healthcare to all citizens as a basic human right. We’re essentially the only ones that decided to turn our health into a commodity.
The Financial Times recently reported that Americans are facing the biggest increase in health insurance premiums in 15 years. This comes after the announcement that the Trump administration’s budget bill will cut Medicaid funding, kicking millions of Americans off their insurance and forcing the closure of many rural hospitals.
American healthcare is already, by far, the most expensive in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we have roughly twice the per-capita healthcare costs of other developed countries, yet we have relatively poor outcomes. By numerous metrics, including preventable deaths, life expectancy, and infant mortality, we lag behind peer countries, despite spending far more than they do. Even well-off Americans with insurance tend to get sicker and die sooner than their counterparts in places like the UK and Canada.
The reason is simple—every other developed country guarantees healthcare to all citizens as a basic human right. We’re essentially the only ones that decided to turn our health into a commodity.
Between 45,000 and 68,000 Americans die each year from preventable diseases, simply because they don’t have access to health insurance. Meaning, if they lived in any other country in the developed world, they’d survive. This shouldn’t be happening in the richest country on Earth.
Single-payer is the future of healthcare.
Historically, the costs of healthcare rise faster than wages and overall inflation. Employers often shift these costs onto workers in the form of higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles or by dropping benefits for spouses, retirees, and part-time workers. The result is that people are being squeezed more and more. Nearly half of all Americans report struggling to afford healthcare.
It’s been demonstrated numerous times that universal healthcare would save money. Taxes would go up, but private health insurance premiums would be eliminated, so the average American would pay substantially less. It would just be in the form of a tax, not a premium. One report from 2020 compared 22 different cost analyses of potential single-payer initiatives at both the state and federal level and found that 19 of them projected savings (in the first year and long-term).
It’s essential that we transition to a system that prioritizes patient care over profit. Single-payer is the future of healthcare. Until the US joins the rest of the world in guaranteeing healthcare as a basic human right to all citizens, the costs will continue to balloon, as more and more Americans are needlessly bankrupted or killed.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
The Financial Times recently reported that Americans are facing the biggest increase in health insurance premiums in 15 years. This comes after the announcement that the Trump administration’s budget bill will cut Medicaid funding, kicking millions of Americans off their insurance and forcing the closure of many rural hospitals.
American healthcare is already, by far, the most expensive in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we have roughly twice the per-capita healthcare costs of other developed countries, yet we have relatively poor outcomes. By numerous metrics, including preventable deaths, life expectancy, and infant mortality, we lag behind peer countries, despite spending far more than they do. Even well-off Americans with insurance tend to get sicker and die sooner than their counterparts in places like the UK and Canada.
The reason is simple—every other developed country guarantees healthcare to all citizens as a basic human right. We’re essentially the only ones that decided to turn our health into a commodity.
Between 45,000 and 68,000 Americans die each year from preventable diseases, simply because they don’t have access to health insurance. Meaning, if they lived in any other country in the developed world, they’d survive. This shouldn’t be happening in the richest country on Earth.
Single-payer is the future of healthcare.
Historically, the costs of healthcare rise faster than wages and overall inflation. Employers often shift these costs onto workers in the form of higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles or by dropping benefits for spouses, retirees, and part-time workers. The result is that people are being squeezed more and more. Nearly half of all Americans report struggling to afford healthcare.
It’s been demonstrated numerous times that universal healthcare would save money. Taxes would go up, but private health insurance premiums would be eliminated, so the average American would pay substantially less. It would just be in the form of a tax, not a premium. One report from 2020 compared 22 different cost analyses of potential single-payer initiatives at both the state and federal level and found that 19 of them projected savings (in the first year and long-term).
It’s essential that we transition to a system that prioritizes patient care over profit. Single-payer is the future of healthcare. Until the US joins the rest of the world in guaranteeing healthcare as a basic human right to all citizens, the costs will continue to balloon, as more and more Americans are needlessly bankrupted or killed.
- New CDC Data Reveals 'National Embarrassment' of For-Profit Healthcare ›
- No Amount of Fraud Deters Government Agencies When It Comes to Privatizing Medicare ›
- Healthcare Reformer Wendell Potter: The For-Profit 'System Is Unraveling' ›
- Huge Administrative Waste Makes Clear For-Profit Insurance Is 'Actually Very Bad': Analysis ›
- This American For-Profit Healthcare System Would Just as Soon Kill You as Look at You ›
- For-Profit US Healthcare System—Once Again—Ranks Dead Last Among Its Peers ›
- Opinion | For-Profit Healthcare Makes Us Sick! | Common Dreams ›
The Financial Times recently reported that Americans are facing the biggest increase in health insurance premiums in 15 years. This comes after the announcement that the Trump administration’s budget bill will cut Medicaid funding, kicking millions of Americans off their insurance and forcing the closure of many rural hospitals.
American healthcare is already, by far, the most expensive in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we have roughly twice the per-capita healthcare costs of other developed countries, yet we have relatively poor outcomes. By numerous metrics, including preventable deaths, life expectancy, and infant mortality, we lag behind peer countries, despite spending far more than they do. Even well-off Americans with insurance tend to get sicker and die sooner than their counterparts in places like the UK and Canada.
The reason is simple—every other developed country guarantees healthcare to all citizens as a basic human right. We’re essentially the only ones that decided to turn our health into a commodity.
Between 45,000 and 68,000 Americans die each year from preventable diseases, simply because they don’t have access to health insurance. Meaning, if they lived in any other country in the developed world, they’d survive. This shouldn’t be happening in the richest country on Earth.
Single-payer is the future of healthcare.
Historically, the costs of healthcare rise faster than wages and overall inflation. Employers often shift these costs onto workers in the form of higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles or by dropping benefits for spouses, retirees, and part-time workers. The result is that people are being squeezed more and more. Nearly half of all Americans report struggling to afford healthcare.
It’s been demonstrated numerous times that universal healthcare would save money. Taxes would go up, but private health insurance premiums would be eliminated, so the average American would pay substantially less. It would just be in the form of a tax, not a premium. One report from 2020 compared 22 different cost analyses of potential single-payer initiatives at both the state and federal level and found that 19 of them projected savings (in the first year and long-term).
It’s essential that we transition to a system that prioritizes patient care over profit. Single-payer is the future of healthcare. Until the US joins the rest of the world in guaranteeing healthcare as a basic human right to all citizens, the costs will continue to balloon, as more and more Americans are needlessly bankrupted or killed.
- New CDC Data Reveals 'National Embarrassment' of For-Profit Healthcare ›
- No Amount of Fraud Deters Government Agencies When It Comes to Privatizing Medicare ›
- Healthcare Reformer Wendell Potter: The For-Profit 'System Is Unraveling' ›
- Huge Administrative Waste Makes Clear For-Profit Insurance Is 'Actually Very Bad': Analysis ›
- This American For-Profit Healthcare System Would Just as Soon Kill You as Look at You ›
- For-Profit US Healthcare System—Once Again—Ranks Dead Last Among Its Peers ›
- Opinion | For-Profit Healthcare Makes Us Sick! | Common Dreams ›