‘The U.S. remains the only one of the 25 wealthiest countries to not provide universal health care, and the health care system’s focus on profits and not health has cost Americans their lives. Despite having less than 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. has had 25% of the world’s confirmed cases and 20% of the deaths. Public Citizen’s new report demonstrates how:
- Before the pandemic, approximately 87 million Americans were uninsured or underinsured. About one-third of COVID-19 deaths and 40% of infections were tied to a lack of insurance;
- About half of Americans receive their health care through their employer. With more than 22 million Americans losing their job during the pandemic, millions have lost their health insurance;
- Racial health disparities, including access to care, have led to disproportionate deaths in communities of color;
- We have the highest rate of unmet need of any comparably wealthy country, with one-third of Americans reporting that they or a family member has avoided going to the doctor when sick or injured in the past year due to cost;
- Americans are significantly more likely to die of chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer than people in comparably wealthy countries with universal health care systems; and
- A lack of essential funding led to insufficient hospital capacity. The U.S. had only around half the hospital beds per capita of peer nations and far fewer than countries like Japan or Germany.’
Read here (Public Citizen, Mar 16, 2021)
