US Health Insurance: What Are Its Problems and Potential Solutions?
An overview of the chief complaints, root causes, and possible solutions to the U.S. health insurance dilemma.
American health insurance seems to frustrate everyone. Patients complain that it’s expensive and complicated. Providers say it buries them in paperwork and can negatively affect patient care.
Poll after poll indicates that most people simply don’t trust their health insurance provider or the health care system itself. Fully 70 percent of the country thinks American health care has major problems or is in a state of crisis. Consumer satisfaction is at a 24-year low.
The American health payment system is a ramshackle structure made up of public and private insurance plans offered by a host of providers across multiple states. Over many decades, the system has been layered with more legislative patches than the roof on your grandfather’s barn… (Continue to full article)
Drugmakers Just Hiked Prices for Over 500 Medicines
Pharmaceutical companies just raised list prices for over 500 medicines, including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Gilead’s HIV-1 treatment Biktarvy and Genentech’s hemophilia A medication Hemlibra.
Drugmakers typically increase prices in the U.S. every January, according to 46brooklyn Research, a nonprofit group that analyzes drug prices. And although this month’s price hikes are comparable with those in recent years, consumers and insurance companies will likely feel the impact.
“For patients in high-deductible health plans or who have cost sharing arrangements that are based on the list price, the increases will hit them,” Antonio Ciaccia, CEO of 46brooklyn, writes in an email to Money.
The median increase among medicines with a price hike was about 4% for 2025. That’s actually slightly below the typical increases from 2019 to 2024, which ranged from 4.5% to 5%. Of all the January 2025 price changes so far recorded, only seven have been price decreases… (Continue to full article)
Thought UnitedHealthcare Couldn’t Get More Awful? They’ve Gone Villain Mode!
At this very moment Luigi Mangione, who is accused of shooting UnitedHealthcare’s CEO last month, is sitting in a federal jail cell in Brooklyn. He’s got a barrage of court appearances scheduled and, once he has wound his way through the criminal justice system, he could be behind bars for the rest of his life.
Which, of course, is as it should be. While there are a lot of reasons that many people find the 26-year-old alleged assassin sympathetic, you can’t just gun a CEO down outside a hotel in Manhattan and face no consequences for it. And Mangione, who is, by all accounts, an extremely smart guy with an Ivy League education, should really have known better. He should have known that if he wanted to murder someone – and get away with it – there were far more socially acceptable ways of doing so.
Insurers seem to have gone into full-on villain mode; just when you think you can’t hear anything worse about the insurance industry, a new horror story comes out. There’s been an uptick in stories about insurers limiting coverage of prosthetic limbs and questioning their medical necessity , for example. Mr Beast, an influencer with 343 million subscribers on YouTube, recently railed against the healthcare industry in a new video where he helped 2,000 amputees walk again. “Many lived in America and it feels so disgusting that in a country with this much wealth, a fucken YouTuber is their only option to get a prosthetic leg,” he tweeted . “We need to fix this.”… (Continue to full article)
It’s Time to Turn Outrage Into Change: We Need a Better System to Pay for Health Care!
The fatal shooting of a health insurance company executive has exposed the deep dissatisfaction many Americans experience with their health insurance. Social media is abuzz with stories of anger and frustration with a system that prioritizes profit over people.
As a retired physician, I saw the shortcomings of our system regularly fail my patients and am well aware of the need for change. In fact, in 2021, I established The Asclepius Initiative (TAI), a nonprofit that works to communicate the need for a fairer and more just health care financing system.
We believe that you and your family should have access to care when you need it, and your care should be affordable, regardless of where you live or work.
Getting sick isn’t a choice, and receiving the necessary care shouldn’t be a luxury. Your medical care should be decided by you and your doctor, not a claims processor… (Continue to full article)
Medicare Will Impose $2,000 Cap on Prescription Costs in 2025
Starting Jan. 1, Medicare will begin capping prescription drug costs at $2,000 annually, a move expected to save millions of Americans money on medications.
The change is thanks to provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which are meant to cut costs for consumers, expand benefits and keep prices more reliable.
Patients who reach the cap will not have to pay for prescriptions covered under Medicare Part D for the rest of the year.
I will believe it when I DON’T have to Pay it!… (Continue to full article)
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UnitedHealth Marked Up Lifesaving Drugs by Up to 1,000%: FTC
According to the Federal Trade Commission , UnitedHealth Group has been charging patients markups on lifesaving drugs.
Between 2017 and 2022, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum, Cigna’s Express Scripts and CVS Health’s CVS Caremark marked up their prices by hundreds — and in some cases, thousands — of percent, resulting in $7.3 billion in revenue above cost.
“The three major pharmacy benefit managers hiked costs for a wide range of lifesaving drugs, including medications to treat heart disease and cancer,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a report .
“The Big 3 PBMs marked up numerous specialty generic drugs dispensed at their affiliated pharmacies by thousands of percent, and many others by hundreds of percent… (Continue to full article)
How to Save Hundreds on Prescription Drugs: 6 Programs You Can Use in 2025
The cost of prescription drugs has gone up like everything else. Over the last 10 years, the average price of prescription drugs has increased by 40%.
If you rely on prescriptions to maintain your health, these medications can take up a significant chunk of your monthly budget. Luckily, there are some programs out there that can help you save hundreds of dollars a year. From discount cars to online options, there are several ways to cut the cost of your prescription drugs in 2025.
Here they are… (Continue to full article)