Not to sound like a worrying nelly, but we do not seem prepared for an actual pandemic. Our healthcare technology may be advanced enough to fight this disease, but the system itself is near breaking. People have been saying this for years.[3] Even people with health insurance can’t afford the care that they receive. In just the last decade or so, our health insurance premiums have gone up 55%, even though our earnings have only gone up 26%. Our deductibles have also gone up 200%.[4] So when you need to go to the doctor, you might have to pay a huge bill even if you’re covered by a very expensive health insurance policy. We’re getting squeezed and squeezed by healthcare.[5]

American healthcare does not incentivize anyone to put patient care first and it doesn’t incentivize us to develop effective preventative care systems. We know that it is far better to help a diabetic manage their blood sugar through regular checkups that could keep them alive for ten more good years than it is to amputate their foot when they come in after years of neglecting their disease, on the verge of death. But there is way more money to be made in amputating a foot than in managing the disease. We live in a system that encourages acute care. Even when we seek preventative care, it is common to be made to wait six months for a doctor’s appointment. Moreover, when we finally go to that appointment six months later, we are lucky if we get 15 minutes with the doctor. Doctors are tightly scheduled like workers in a car factory who have to be able to install an engine by the count of the foreman’s watch.

American healthcare also does not incentivize doctors and hospitals to give people a reasonable death. The vast majority of the money that we spend on healthcare comes at the end of our lives to maintain a quality of life that we might not even want. When my father was in his car accident fifteen-years-ago, it was clear to everyone that he was dying. For three days, they kept him alive on every machine imaginable. Even when it was obvious that his cells were collapsing, they didn’t turn off the machines. And my father had a DNR. My mother, who is a nurse, begged them to stop and let him die. The hospital charged over $100,000 for those last three days. The hospital sought profit, but , at least in part, it was also afraid of liability, which is another contributor to the breaking of American healthcare.

When the doctors and hospitals send their bills for their procedures to the insurance companies, the insurance companies reimburse them and keep themselves in the green by increasing premiums for regular people. Hospital bills are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America. And while we spend more money on healthcare, we are not healthier. And that is because the American healthcare system, which is propped up by powerful insurance and hospital groups that have lobbies in Congress, is not designed to make us healthier. It is designed to make money.

I have great insurance, but my deductible is still over a thousand dollars. When I get sick, I don’t always go to the doctor.

If a new virus starts spreading, there are a whole lot of people who will delay going to a physician for fear it will drive them into poverty. And that kind of fear will work to spread more virus.

So, crossing fingers. Perhaps this really will pass us by.

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[1] Andrew Prokop, “Prosecutors Resign from Roger Stone’s Case after DOJ Interference in Sentencing,” Vox, February 11, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/2/11/21133622/roger-stone-prosecutor-aaron-zelinsky-resigns.

[2] Stephen Dinan, “William Barr Looks at Criminal Charges for Sanctuary Cities,” Washington Times, February 10, 2020, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/10/william-barr-looks-criminal-charges-sanctuary-citi/.

[3] Eric C. Schneider et al., “Mirror, Mirror 2017: International Comparison Reflects Flaws and Opportunities for Better U.S. Health Care,” July 14, 2017, https://doi.org/10.15868/socialsector.27698.

[4] Craig Palosky and Sue Ducat, “Premiums for Employer-Sponsored Family Health Coverage Rise 5% to Average $19,616; Single Premiums Rise 3% to $6,896,” KFF (blog), October 3, 2018, https://www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/employer-sponsored-family-coverage-premiums-rise-5-percent-in-2018/.

[5] Gary Claxton et al., “Employer Health Benefits 2019 Annual Survey” (San Francisco, California: Kaiser Family Foundation, 2019).