Healthcare Is the Most Important Issue for All Americans

Of all the issues facing the American people, nothing is more critical than affordable healthcare. In 2022, only the wealthiest Americans can afford the most qualified doctors and treatment available. Most of our nation’s people are forced to accept what they can afford.

I know that climate change and other issues have great importance to our nation’s future, but without the best healthcare as an available option for all Americans, nothing else matters. This has become the primary issue for millions of other older Americans and me, and we all get older daily.

Let’s begin with what I believe is the most shocking fact I have read in my entire life. In 1955 a three-day stay in the hospital cost about $60. In 2022 the average for a single overnight stay is $11,700.

I had to read that statistic several times to believe what I was seeing in print. I checked to make sure it wasn’t a ‘computer error.’ Without insurance, the majority of all Americans would be unable to afford a single night’s stay. And this does not include medications or tests. This makes me very angry. For-profit hospitals are stealing money from the American people.

One of the greatest crimes in America is that about 57,971 families, men, women, and children, are homeless, most because of a lack of affordable housing and debt related to disease, injury, and enormous healthcare bills they were unable to pay. No one will take responsibility for this situation. However, I promise that “the truth lives here,” and the guilt rests on the shoulders of the medical profession, insurance companies, our federal government, and greedy corporations. If these groups cared about the American people, they would support the changes necessary to guarantee the best healthcare possible for all Americans, not just themselves.

Here is a list of countries with universal healthcare in 2022.

• Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria
• Bahamas, Belgium, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso
• Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Egypt
• Finland, France
• Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece
• Hong Kong (China SAR)
• Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy
• Japan
• Kuwait
• Luxembourg
• Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco
• Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Norway
• Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal
• Romania, Russia, Rwanda
• Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland
• Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey
• United Kingdom

Our politicians love to brag about America being the richest country in the world. That’s true if you are one of our nation’s 724 billionaires or 22.2 million millionaires. However, if you are part of the 50% of all Americans who live in poverty or the low-income level, you are living in a poor country. These men and women are one paycheck away from becoming desperate. A large medical bill could easily place them in the homeless category.

Americans with insurance may find it inadequate if the situation involves life-saving surgery or care requiring overpriced medication. In America, collusion between the insurance companies and the healthcare industry requires government oversight. The costs for medical treatment and prescription drugs must be controlled. America has the most expensive healthcare in the free world, but not the best unless you are part of the 10 percent wealthiest people in our country.

Contrary to today’s fake Republicans, access to the best healthcare available is a right for all Americans, not just our government and the wealthiest among us. America has never been a great country, although some of our leaders have tried to make it so. Doing the right thing about healthcare for all would be a great start.

By James Turnage, Novelist

Sources:

World Population Review: Countries With Universal Health Care 2022
International Insurance.com: Countries With Free or Universal Healthcare

Featured and Top Image by National Cancer Institute Courtesy of Unsplash – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by National Cancer Institute Courtesy of Unsplash – Creative Commons License