Relative to the size of the economy, the US spends much more on
healthcare per person compared to other wealthy countries. US
healthcare spending per person in 2020 was $11,946 which was over
$4,000 more than any other wealthy nation (Wager, Ortaliza, & Cox,
2022). In the 1970s about 6% of the US GDP went toward
healthcare costs which was similar to other countries but in the
1980s healthcare spending grew significantly faster and of course
during the pandemic there was also an increase in healthcare
spending (Wager, Ortaliza, & Cox, 2022). In many arguments for
national healthcare, you may hear people say how cheap the
healthcare is in other countries or how little the cost may be per
person; I think that a lot of individuals look at other countries like
Sweden and make a quick comparison to the health and wellness of
the citizens, but fail to look at the reality of the current US
healthcare system and its costs.
Healthcare reform may be moving forward, but costs continue to rise
and many Americans are experiencing the challenges of trying to pay
for those increased costs. I think that part of the reason why
individuals may not realize the extent of the incurred government
costs is because of how much insurance costs and how much out of
pocket healthcare expenses are. In 2021, a KFF poll showed that
46% of insured adults had difficulty affording their out-of-pocket
costs and 27% had difficulty affording their deductible (Kearney,
Hamel, Stokes, & Brodie, 2021). When it costs that much for
individuals who are paying for health insurance, they are only seeing
the expenses that they can barely afford which makes it harder to
believe that the government is spending so much. The KFF’s poll also
showed that 51% of adults delayed or went with certain medical care
due to the cost and 39% of adults most commonly skipped dental
care (Kearney, Hamel, Stokes, & Brodie, 2021). From previous
discussions we already know that the choice to avoid seeking
medical care or to decline medical coverage can in the long run
increase overall costs and the chances for chronic conditions, but
most people do not think so much about long term investments and
instead choose to live in the moment. Because so many individuals
are foregoing medical, dental, and vision services because of the
increased costs surely they would not be thinking about the rising
costs to the government to also cover some of these services.
References
Kearney, A., Hamel, L., Stokes, M., & Brodie, M. (2021, December
14). Americans' challenges with health care costs. KFF. Retrieved
February 7, 2022, from https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-
brief/americans-challenges-with-health-care-costs/
Wager, E. W., Ortaliza, J., & Cox, C. (2022, January 21). How does
health spending in the U.S. compare to other countries? Peterson-KFF
Health System Tracker. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-
spending-u-s-compare-countries-2/
