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Too many Americans struggle to pay for a basic right: medical care
I have long wondered why our medical system in America is the way that it is. The only remote conclusion I can come to is that this country has a goal on capitalism and seldom strays from creating systems focused on making a buck. And, while I can appreciate the motivation of money, healthcare has always been a space that I didn’t understand a connection to profits.
Healthcare isn’t the only system in our country that I think has things a bit backwards, designed to earn shareholders money instead of doing what’s “right” or best for the masses. Our schools, our colleges, the prisons, mental healthcare, housing, food, access … OK, so clearly a lot of our nation’s drive includes a financial aspect where I personally think it does not belong. But, for today’s pondering, I’ll stick to just the United States health insurance system.
Don’t get me wrong. Before I gripe about my first-world problems, I realize I am more than blessed to have a level of coverage I do have access to, not to mention that which I can provide to my children. However, even the best of policies has questionable practices that seem tied far more to cash profits than the betterment of its policy holder. I suppose it bothers me most because it is one area that the outcomes are easiest to see, and in my opinion, the most offensive.
In some of my own life’s examples, I’ve been frustrated with the process to begin with when it comes to medical care. Firstly, I must have health insurance to seek the opinion of a medical care worker. Where I live, that means likely a nurse or, if you’re lucky, a physician’s assistant. These caregivers can assess your need, should you be able to obtain and attend an appointment, and then prescribe, as necessary, a medication.
I get it. There are many levels of medications that probably should have the oversight and management of a medical profession. But so many of today’s maintenance drugs, especially, feel like they could be more readily available to the masses. Without getting too political, the access to options like birth control, feel like they should be an over-the-counter choice for a person, and not the held-behind-gates privilege for those that can afford the process required.
For my own medical conditions, I require a handful of medicines each day. To the best of my knowledge, they are medications I will have to take for the rest of my life. The conditions I have do not have a “cure,” and to keep myself healthy, I must take the drugs. To get the prescriptions, however, I not only have to seek a medical professional to write the script, but I must continue to “check in” or see that person to keep refills coming. Nothing changes in these conditions. There is no up or down to its impact on my life. It remains consistent, and as such, consistently requires me to take the drug to survive.
Should my schedule get busy, and say as a single parent, working mom, I forget to call for an annual check-up, guess what happens? My meds are paused. More accurately, my medical office cannot permit any refills until I am seen.
Nothing about being “seen” by my healthcare providers has much to do with the conditions being medicated. However, my insurance requires a set number of visits to allow me the privilege to continue to take my medications. I find this strange. I take medications that, as a side effect, are dangerous for me to pause or discontinue. If I can’t get into the doctor’s office, I’m truly at a risk. But this doesn’t stop my health insurance from demanding I be seen.
Medication and healthcare feel like they are guarded and heavily secured gold. And to break into Fort Knox, the average person has to leap over a number of hurdles. Remember, I consider myself luckier than most. I have insurance. Even so, I have to locate a healthcare provider, maintain appointments every three to six months, regardless of my “need” to do so, and then must have prescriptions sent to a pharmacy, (one that hopefully takes said insurance), where I then have to travel to, pay for, and bring home.
Again, being blessed, I have a car to do so. I typically have the money to shell out for a copay for these “required” visits. I have funds to purchase the medication. In the end, I get it done, and I get my prescriptions. But these are hurdles that so many cannot overcome so easily. Imagine having no transportation to such appointments. Imagine not having finances for your copays or drug costs.
Sadly, this is very much a reality for many. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) poll in 2023 stated that one in four, or 25% of Americans say it is “difficult to afford their medicines.” In 2022, a survey found 44% of Americans were “struggling to afford healthcare.”
That encompasses an awful lot of Americans. Why are we struggling to pay for our health? Unfortunately, I lack an economic degree, political science experience, and/or international healthcare systematic knowledge. Therefore, do I have an exact solution? No. But there has got to be a better way to do this.
Major countries do have successful universal healthcare programs, such as those offered in Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil, or Australia. Some argue these solutions mean higher taxes and longer waits for care (since everyone can now access it). Those don’t seem like costs that we could not handle. As our government attempts to improve efficiencies, perhaps the tax rate wouldn’t have to jump all that much? But, again, I remind you. I’m not a pro in such fields nor industries.
What I am is a writer. I am a writer who is frustrated. I am a writer with worries. Should healthcare not be something we all have a “right” to? Does “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” not include medical care? I for one, wish that it did. While I may minimally struggle with annoyances and frustrations, others must ask themselves if they should buy food or medicine. And that is a cost I find unacceptable.
