A Portrait of the Failed United States Healthcare System-Comparing Poor Performance and Horrifying Outcomes to 10 Nations
Authored by David Blumenthal, Evan D. Gumas, Arnav Shah, Munira Z. Gunja, and Reginald D. Williams II | September 19, 2024
Yet another report published today by the Commonwealth Fund. has provided evidence that the private, for-profit approach to, and model of, healthcare in the U.S. has failed patients, business owners and ethical medical professionals.
The U.S. ranks as the worst performer among 10 developed nations in critical areas of health care, including preventing deaths, access (mainly because of high cost) and guaranteeing quality treatment for everyone, regardless of gender, income or geographic location, according to the report, published Thursday by The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group.
Based on the new findings, people in the U.S. die the youngest and experience the most avoidable deaths, even though the country spends nearly twice as much — about 18% of gross domestic product — on health care than any other nation ranked.
The complex labyrinth of hospital bills, insurance disputes and out-of-pocket requirements that patients and doctors are forced to navigate put the U.S. second to last in administrative efficiency.
“We have so many different insurers, each of which is selling a different product with different requirements in order for physicians or hospitals and other providers to get paid and for the patients to have their care covered,” Blumenthal said. “That leads to denial of service. It leads to bargaining that goes on between doctors and hospitals and insurers’ companies.”
The U.S. was also second to last in equity, with many lower-income people reporting that they couldn’t afford the care they needed and more people reporting unfair treatment or discrimination.
-NBC News, September 19, 2024
Surveys indicate that health care is among the top priorities for voters in the November presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris has pitched building on the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Former President Donald Trump has given little detail about his health care vision; his running mate, JD Vance, has suggested deregulation.
Read the most recent report on the poor state of Public Health in the United States.
Learn more about the Single Payer (non-privatized) National Improved Medicare for All Senate Bill 1655 here>