Health is True Wealth: Why America Must Join the Rest of the Developed World in Dismantling Profit-Driven Healthcare
Introduction: America Is the Richest Sick Nation on Earth
The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country on the planet—over $4.5 trillion annually—yet we rank below 50th in global life expectancy. Americans are dying younger than citizens in nations with far fewer resources. Why? Because our healthcare system prioritizes profits over people.
While other developed countries treat healthcare as a public good, the U.S. treats it as a private commodity—one that is sold, rationed, and monetized. In doing so, we’ve traded compassion for quarterly earnings and allowed Wall Street to determine who gets to live with dignity and who dies in debt.
Historical Context: How We Chose Profit Over Public Health
In the aftermath of World War II, much of the industrialized world made a moral choice: health care should not depend on wealth. Nations like the UK (NHS), Germany, and Japan established universal healthcare systems that guaranteed care as a right, not a luxury.
The U.S., by contrast, doubled down on private insurance and fee-for-service medicine. Medicare and Medicaid—introduced in the 1960s—were limited patches, not comprehensive reform. Meanwhile, the rise of health insurance conglomerates, pharmaceutical monopolies, and hospital chains turned illness into a business model.
The result: Skyrocketing costs, bloated bureaucracy, and declining outcomes.
Current Impact: We’re Paying More, Living Less
Life Expectancy: As of 2023, U.S. life expectancy is 76.4 years, compared to:
Japan: 84.5 years
Switzerland: 84.0 years
Australia: 83.3 years
South Korea: 83.1 years
France: 82.5 years
Canada: 82.3 years
United Kingdom: 81.7 years
That’s a 6- to 10-year gap between the U.S. and our closest allies and competitors.
Healthcare Costs: The U.S. spends nearly twice as much per capita on healthcare as the next closest country (Switzerland), yet ranks:
#1 in medical debt
#1 in preventable deaths
#1 in maternal mortality among developed nations
Medical Bankruptcy: Over 66% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical bills—something nonexistent in countries with public healthcare systems.
Core Problems: Privatization, Administrative Waste, and Perverse Incentives
Insurance Company Gatekeepers
Private insurers determine what treatments are “medically necessary” based on profit margins, not patient needs. Denials, delays, and restrictive networks are features, not bugs.
The average CEO of a top health insurer (e.g., UnitedHealth Group) earns over $20 million per year, while tens of millions of Americans remain uninsured or underinsured.
Pharmaceutical Monopolies
Americans pay 2 to 10 times more for the same medications compared to Canadians or Europeans.
Insulin, a 100-year-old drug, costs $6 to produce, but sells for $300 per vial in the U.S. due to patent gaming and middlemen.
Hospital Consolidation and Price Gouging
Hospital mergers have created regional monopolies, allowing systems to charge 5–10x Medicare rates for routine procedures.
Surprise billing and opaque pricing mean a trip to the ER can cost $3,000+ even with insurance.
Administrative Waste
Nearly 30% of U.S. healthcare spending goes to billing and paperwork—not care. No other country comes close.
What Other Countries Get Right
United Kingdom (NHS): Universal care funded by taxes. No bills. No insurance companies. Life expectancy: 81.7 years.
Japan: Public insurance for all with private providers. Regulated prices. Life expectancy: 84.5 years—8 years longer than the U.S.
France: Hybrid public-private system with universal access and 90% satisfaction rates. Life expectancy: 82.5 years.
Germany: Non-profit insurers (sickness funds) offer universal coverage. Admin costs are half that of the U.S.
These nations prove that universal care works, and that quality healthcare doesn't require bankrupting individuals or inflating corporate stock prices.
Proposed Reforms: How America Can Catch Up
Medicare for All (Single-Payer System)
Replace private insurance with a public system that covers all Americans—birth to death.
Eliminate co-pays, deductibles, and surprise bills.
Funded through progressive taxation, but saves money by removing profit margins and administrative waste.
Regulate Drug Prices
Empower Medicare to negotiate prices (a reform already partially passed).
Ban pay-for-delay and other anti-competitive practices that inflate drug costs.
Outlaw Medical Bankruptcy
Guarantee that no American goes broke due to illness.
Cap out-of-pocket costs and ensure universal access to treatment.
Ban For-Profit Insurers from Basic Care
Like many OECD nations, restrict for-profit insurance to supplemental coverage only (e.g., private rooms, elective perks).
Invest in Prevention and Public Health
Shift spending from reactive, emergency-based care to prevention, nutrition, mental health, and chronic disease management.
Answering the Critics: “How Can We Afford It?”
We’re already paying more. The U.S. spends 17.3% of GDP on healthcare. Most countries with universal systems spend 9–11%.
Medicare for All would save an estimated $450 billion per year, according to multiple economic studies, even while covering every single person.
The real question is: how can we afford not to fix it?
Conclusion: A Healthy Society Is a Wealthy Society
America’s obsession with privatized healthcare has produced a system that is morally indefensible and economically unsustainable. No one should have to choose between treatment and bankruptcy, or watch loved ones suffer because a corporation denied coverage.
If health is wealth—and it is—then universal care is the foundation for a truly prosperous nation. We have the resources, the models, and the public support. What we lack is the political courage.
It’s time for the United States to join the civilized world and treat healthcare not as a profit engine, but as a sacred right.