Healthcare

It is undeniable that healthcare in America is shit. For some reason, many people have lost all concept of empathy for their fellow man. Society has grown more individualistic, and that has amplified the effects of certain cliques. Healthcare should be a fundamental human right. You don't need to be religious to understand that watching someone die from a preventable cause is horrific. I don't know if socialism is right everywhere, but it sure as hell makes sense here.

Right now if you get sick, and I mean really sick in the U.S.A., you are fucked. I have watched productive members of society fall and fail to get back on their feet due to the lack of this safety net.

Insurance

The problem with having insurance providers is twofold. First, they have a need to drive profits as high as possible. Second, in the pursuit of the first, there is a conflict of interest where they do not want to approve claims because that results in less profit. They do not care about the insured's health or wellbeing.

Cost of Drugs

Prescription drugs have become a convoluted mess. There are manufacturer's coupons, prescription savings programs, store-specific prescription programs, and of course insurance which can all cover some or most of the costs.

A Need for Profitability

Big Pharma does not research drugs out of the kindness of their own hearts. They do it in the hopes of finding something novel they can charge Big Bucks for. The end result is that new drugs are incredibly expensive because the company needs to recoup their losses and make money on top, and they only spend a lot of time and money researching things they expect may turn a profit. People with rare conditions are fucked. We find ourselves in a hellscape where we have to crowdfund not just medical treatment, but medical research. The biggest success I can think of is the ice bucket challenge which sped up the research leading to finding a gene linked to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Cost of Care

The cost of medical care in the United States is sobering. Two trips to the emergency room resulted in bills north of $45,000... though in my case, I had health insurance so I was grateful to only pay in the low thousands. That is still from a place of privilege, as many Americans cannot. In 2024, 37% of Americans could not pay an unexpected $400 expense.¹

Senior Care

Healthcare and living expenses for senior citizens are through the roof and are only going to get worse as Baby Boomers retire (there will be a supply/demand problem that is unlikely to be worth greatly expanding business for). Long-term care costs in Georgia in 2021 were between $3,500 and $7,000 per month depending on needs ($42,000-$84,000 per year).² Certain insurance policies may cover it if you bought into it in time, but may not cover all expenses.

Those who do not have insurance coverage or have exhausted their benefits, nursing and assisted living homes will come after assets the party owns, including houses as creditors filing a claim against the estate. For Medicaid specifically, while every state runs the Medicaid program themselves, federal law requires they institute an estate recovery program to attempt to claw back any costs from the estate after the person dies.³ Avoiding this requires planning in advance, as there is a "look-back" period in which any assets sold in the past five years (as of now) can be reclaimed.

Just Die Already

Insurance companies have a conflict of interest when it comes to the resurgence of so-called "Medical Aid in Dying" (MAiD). Assisted suicide (though we don't call it that; it's too grotesque), as it turns out, is much cheaper than paying the ongoing cost of care to keep someone alive. Insurance companies may effectively coerce people into MAiD even if there is a viable treatment available. This has already happened in one such case, where an insurance company refused to pay for an Oregon woman's needed medicine, but offered to cover the drugs for MAiD.⁴ As horrific as this is by itself, we expect it of corporations. Now, will the government do it if they are on the hook for the expenses? We need governments that put people first.