The current U.S. healthcare system is broken.  The problem is bigger than affordability. Our system is a for-profit mishmash of disparate insurers and payment plans cobbled together in reaction to economic and political issues. The result is an increasingly unaffordable, ineffective, confusing mess, which frustrates patients, doctors and hospitals alike. Opinion The solution is “Medicare for All.”  It would bring high quality, affordable care to everyone. You wouldn’t lose your health insurance if you lose your job, move, get divorced, age out, or make too much money. A catastrophic illness or injury wouldn’t plunge you into medical debt. It lets you choose your doctors and hospitals, improves your access to healthcare services regardless of where you live, reduces health disparities, and improves the health of individuals and our communities.  Studies show that having health insurance is strongly correlated with more disease prevention, better chronic disease management, less infant and maternal mortality, and greater longevity. Medicare for All builds on and expands traditional Medicare, which is well liked, to provide comprehensive benefits — medical, prescription drugs, mental health, dental, vision, hearing and long-term care to every person in the U.S. With everyone covered in the same plan, care is affordable. There are no insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs, copays, deductibles, coinsurance, surprise bills, nor network restrictions. The benefits to doctors and hospitals are significant. With Medicare for All, a single-payer system, billing is standardized and streamlined, saving an estimated $40 billion annually. Providers are paid the same for the same service, instead of payment varying by geography and insurer. When everyone has health insurance, providers aren’t burdened with bad debt, charity care and overcrowded emergency departments. Opponents claim Medicare for All is too expensive and would raise taxes. The fact is we cannot afford not to implement Medicare for All. America has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, an estimated $5.3 trillion was spent in 2024.  Broken down, the average cost to insure a family of four was about $29,000 — $3,564 out of pocket, $6,296 in premiums and $19,276 in employer contributions, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, which monitors the U.S. health system’s performance.  In other words, those premiums are a kind of tax. Right now, we are all paying for each other’s health insurance. For instance, employer contributions are indirectly subsidized by us, paid for through higher prices when we buy the company’s goods or services, and are directly subsidized by the worker, through reduced compensation to offset what employers spend on employees’ health insurance. The U.S. spends almost twice as much as comparable countries who have healthcare for all — $13,432 per person versus an average $7,393, using 2023 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data. Yet, our health outcomes are poorer by all major metrics. Here’s the kicker — 60% of U.S. healthcare costs come from tax dollars. Sixty percent of $13,432 equals $8,059 — still more than our counterparts pay for better healthcare. We pay much more because the U.S. is not a unified system but a conglomeration of competing, for-profit parts. Costs cannot be controlled in a for-profit system, only shifted.  Motivated by quarterly growth, the U.S. healthcare system functions much like the children’s game of musical chairs. Insurers, big Pharma, hospitals and doctors compete with each other, expecting their profits to grow quarterly. Comparable countries keep their costs low because they are not motivated by quarterly growth, investor dividends and stock buybacks.  Their healthcare systems are funded through some form of income-based progressive taxes, or a combination of progressive taxes and limited household contributions. Everyone is automatically covered and costs are controlled through a systemwide budget, known as a global budget, which unites all parts of the system and spreads the money equitably so hospitals don’t go broke, nor eliminate services. All communities, including rural communities, have access to necessary care. You don’t have to be a fan of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders to see that his proposed Medicare for All legislation is a good step in the right direction — a move toward a single-payer system that provides comprehensive coverage to all Americans, regardless of income or health status. To control costs, Medicare for All must be explicitly a non-profit system, integrated by a global budget. It also must be adequately funded. Medicare for All, however, will not be welcomed by those who are profiting from the current system. They have the money to lobby Congress, and disinform the public, to maintain the status quo. If we want affordable healthcare, then Medicare for All is worth fighting for. Piecemeal reform, whether at the state or national level, can only bring us more of the same: rising costs and diminishing returns. The post ‘Medicare for All’ can fix a broken system appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less