Our Hamstrung Health Care System

Published July 6, 2017 at 9:00 AM CDT

A large group of protesters rally against the Senate Republican healthcare bill on the East Front of the Capitol Building in Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

With guest host Ray Suarez.

The most expensive, least efficient health care model in the developed world is ours. How did we get here?

During debates over health care it was often said the U.S. has the best health care system in the world. But Americans are sicker, die younger, and pay more for care than their peers in other wealthy nations. There’s still an intense battle over the future of insurance. How did we get here? This hour On Point: The road Americans took to an expensive and inefficient system. Is it too late to change course? — Ray Suarez

Guests

Noam Levey, national health care reporter for the Los Angeles Times. ( @NoamLevey)

Christy Ford Chapin, professor of 20th century political history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Author of the recent New York Times piece, “ How Did Health Care Get to Be Such A Mess?” ( @christyfchapin)

Wendell Potter, former health insurance industry executive. Author of, “How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans.” ( @wendellpotter)

From The Reading List

New York Times: How Did Health Care Get to Be Such a Mess? — “The problem with American health care is not the care. It’s the insurance. Both parties have stumbled to enact comprehensive health care reform because they insist on patching up a rickety, malfunctioning model. The insurance company model drives up prices and fragments care. Rather than rejecting this jerry-built structure, the Democrats’ Obamacare legislation simply added a cracked support beam or two. The Republican bill will knock those out to focus on spackling other dilapidated parts of the system.”

Washington Post: At parades and protests, GOP lawmakers get earful about health care — “For the 15th year, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) spent July 4 marching through this town of 1,331, a short boat ride away from Canada. She walked and waved, next to marching bands and Shriner-driven lobster boats. Her constituents cheered — and then asked whether she would vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act.”

Business Insider: A coalition of the most advanced countries summed up what’s wrong with America’s healthcare system in 2 points — “Some of the most notable issues plaguing the US healthcare system include its failure to properly treat people with chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes, its failure to provide coverage for low-income people and people of color, its dismal vaccination rates, and the soaring cost of life-saving drugs.”