The American Healthcare System? More like the ‘America Doesn’t Care About Your Health’ System.  

If I were to suffer some sort of incident right now, like suddenly all my bones were to break or I went into cardiac arrest, I don’t know how I would pay for it. My insurance can cover some of it, but for the most part, I’d be screwed. I have no way to pay for it right away, I don’t make enough to pay it off any time soon, even before interest. I could beg my parents for help but I’d feel bad doing so because they don’t make very much either.

Have you recently stopped to think about how messed up that is? It is atrocious that someone can be scared to get medical help because they know they can’t afford it. That doesn’t sound like a functioning society to me. 

I don’t want to go bankrupt because I want to live.

According to U.S. Bureau Census data, 19% of families have medical debt. Around 25% of households with children under 18 hold medical debt. Personally? I think 0% of people should have medical debt. 

Additionally, medical debt disproportionately impacts minorities. 27.9% of Black households have medical debt, 21.7% of Hispanic households have medical debt; while 17.2% of white households have medical debt.

According to a survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, two-thirds of Americans under the age of 65 (roughly 116 million people) couldn’t afford a medical bill or had medical debt, went without care due to the cost, were uninsured, or were underinsured. 

Medicine should not be as expensive as it is.

My prescriptions all range from $50 to $100, and then insurance brings them down to the $10 to $20 range. I’m really glad that the cost is brought down, but why do I need insurance to be able to afford my prescriptions at all? Do people without insurance not deserve medicine?

The cost of insulin is way too high. According to NBC, Insulin costs an average of $1000 per month if you don’t have ‘good’ insurance. One-in-five adults skip or ration insulin due to a cost.

This is life-saving medicine. Let me repeat, life saving medicine. It should be inelastic in cost, and affordable to those who need it. It’s not a luxury. It’s something people need. There is no reason people should have to skip doses of a medicine that keeps them alive because of concerns that they can’t afford it. 

Health should not be a commodity. Human life should not be a commodity.