The U.S. healthcare system is one of the most expensive in the world; an MRI in the U.S. can cost over a thousand dollars while in France it’s only $280. Although the U.S. spends almost double the per capita of other countries it still fails to provide universal coverage, hospitals are never required to regulate their prices due to no one having the choice whether to go there or not. In regular stores, you get to compare shop and buy whatever is the cheapest, but when you’re about to die and need immediate medical assistance you can’t find the cheapest hospital. Since they always have customers who have no decision whether to stop by, there is nothing that forces them to regulate their prices.
Due to hospitals having to treat everyone, including those who are uninsured and can’t pay, the prices for those who are insured get driven up to cover the cost of those who couldn’t pay due to how expensive it is. This is considered to be the hidden tax of the uninsured.
The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare was passed in March of 2010. Its purpose is to make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.) Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.