US Healthcare System

America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system ― Walter Cronkite

US Healthcare System

image by: Marco Verch

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We’re Already Paying for Universal Health Care. Why Don’t We Have It?

There is no shortage of proposals for health insurance reform, and they all miss the point. They invariably focus on the nearly 30 million Americans who lack insurance at any given time. But the coverage for the many more Americans who are fortunate enough to have insurance is deeply flawed.

Health insurance is supposed to provide financial protection against the medical costs of poor health. Yet many insured people still face the risk of enormous medical bills for their “covered” care. A team of researchers estimated that as of mid-2020, collections agencies held $140 billion in unpaid medical bills, reflecting care delivered before the Covid-19 pandemic. To put that number in perspective,…

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 We’re Already Paying for Universal Health Care. Why Don’t We Have It?

Coverage needs to be free at the point of care — no co-pays or deductibles — because leaving patients on the hook for large medical costs is contrary to the purpose of insurance. A natural rejoinder is to go for small co-pays — a $5 co-pay for prescription drugs or $20 for a doctor visit — so that patients make more judicious choices about when to see a health care professional. Economists have preached the virtues of this approach for generations.

Three reasons the US doesn’t have universal health coverage

Why isn’t universal coverage through a national health insurance system even being considered in America? Research in health policy points to three explanations.

3 Things U.S. Medicine Can Learn From A Global Humanitarian Nonprofit

The recent legislative debacle in Washington, D.C., tells us the biggest problems facing American medicine are unlikely to be solved in our nation’s capital. We must, therefore, seek solutions in unexpected places.

9 things Americans need to learn from the rest of the world’s health care systems

Universal health care is hard, but it should be possible — and eight more things I discovered from visiting other countries.

Commonwealth Fund Ranking

The U.S. health system is a mix of public and private, for-profit and nonprofit insurers and health care providers. The federal government provides funding for the national Medicare program for adults age 65 and older and some people with disabilities as well as for various programs for veterans and low-income people,

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The VoteHealth 2020 movement is inspired by our team, advisors, champions, partners and volunteers. Since our start in summer 2020, we’ve led targeted initiatives to get out the vote (GOTV) in innovative ways.

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