Our country’s healthcare system exposes serial and chronic policy failures like almost no other area of governance. This is largely because its incentives are all wrong. Rather than improving healthcare and health outcomes for Americans, the system largely benefits well- connected firms, special interests, and big government.
The U.S. leads the world in medical and scientific innovation, but unfortunately, our healthcare system is fractured. Today, the high costs, limited choices, and variable quality of healthcare in the country are significant concerns for Americans.
During the past five decades, healthcare spending as a percentage of the U.S. GDP has increased significantly, from 6.9% in 1970 to 19.7% in 2020. Despite this increase, Americans’ choices of care and coverage have decreased as healthcare markets have consolidated. Furthermore, from 2011 to 2021, the average premium for family coverage increased 47% from $15,073 to $22,221. More than a decade after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the persistently high cost of healthcare in the U.S. remains a serious issue.
Efforts to improve our healthcare system at both the federal and state level must focus on increasing access to appropriate care when and where it is needed. Our system must protect those who are most vulnerable, including seniors and people with preexisting conditions, and improve affordability of health coverage. Additionally, it must promote individual control, have lower prescription drug costs, and promote transparent, upfront pricing.
Above all, our healthcare system should return to its primary mission of improving the health and health outcomes of Americans. Our Nation has the potential to provide quality care for all Americans. To do so, we must put healthcare back into the hands of the American people and prevent politicians and bureaucrats from deciding how and where care occurs.