Nearly 1 in 12 adults in the United States is burdened with medical debt, and Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed to relieve Americans of this burden and eliminate it once and for all.
According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans owe approximately $220 billion in medical debt. Details of Harris’ plan are still being worked out and will require collaboration with states and Congress, according to a White House news release.
But Harris isn’t the only one trying this. North Carolina recently struck a deal for hospitals to cancel $4 billion in debt as part of its Medicaid expansion plan. California also introduced new protections for people with medical debt.
The big question is: Will eliminating this debt actually solve the problem, or just treat the symptoms?
Princeton University experts say that while it may help people in the short term, it is not a long-term solution and medical debt will only continue to accumulate. The real problem is health care costs, but solving them will require a politically divided government to agree on a complex situation. Meanwhile, states are trying to help with the issue at a more micro-level, such as by blocking medical debt from appearing on credit reports and requiring hospitals to provide better financial support to low-income patients. approach.
Per capita health care spending in the United States in 2022 was about $12,000, more than $4,000 higher than in other high-income countries, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The average per capita health spending in comparable countries is about $6,000, about half the per capita spending in the United States.
Harvard experts say there are many factors contributing to higher costs. These include “wasteful systems, rising drug costs, medical professional salaries, profit-driven medical centers, and health-related pricing.” For example, the highest cost of health care in the United States is the cost of medical administration. David Cutler, a professor in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said:
Approximately one-third of health care dollars spent in the United States are spent on government. Canada spends a small portion as well. Healthcare in the United States is home to every profession you’ll find anywhere else in the world, from medical records coding to billing specialists.
According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, U.S. insurers and health care providers spend $812 billion on administration, which equates to $2,497 per person and 34.2% of total national health care spending.
When it comes to the performance of the US healthcare system, a Harvard University study found that the US has the most technologically sophisticated healthcare system in the world, which is why it is so expensive. But despite our superior technology, America’s health outcomes are not necessarily better than those in other developed countries. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the United States actually performs poorly in areas such as life expectancy, infant mortality, uncontrolled diabetes, and childbirth safety.
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