"Released last month, the study finds that nearly half of U.S. adults worry they won't be able to afford necessary medical care in the coming year, and one in five households reported being unable to pay for prescription medicine in the past three months. Another sobering point: about three in ten U.S. adults said that someone in their household went without needed medical care in the past year because they just couldn't afford it."
"Labeling this a "market failure" suggests something has gone wrong, when in fact it reflects the system's underlying logic; capital accumulates where regulation is thin and public goods are neglected, and the health-care sector is simply following that script. Hospitals consolidate to increase their leverage and protect their margins; pharmaceutical companies privatize publicly funded research and set prices untethered from production costs; insurers design plans"
Nearly half of U.S. adults worry they will be unable to afford necessary medical care in the coming year. One in five households reported being unable to pay for prescription medicine in the past three months, and about three in ten adults said someone in their household went without needed medical care in the past year because they could not afford it. Affordability and perceived value fall hardest on Black and Hispanic communities, younger adults, and low-income households. Geography, employment, wealth, and private insurance determine access. Market incentives drive hospital consolidation, privatization of public research, and restrictive insurance design.
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