I think we have the conversation about healthcare all wrong in Washington. We need to understand that decreasing government spending is not the same as decreasing healthcare costs. Decreasing Medicaid eligibility, limiting insurance options, raising deductibles, cutting benefits, or shifting more costs onto patients may decrease government spending. It will not lower the cost of a hospitalization, MRI, doctor visit, insurance premium, or prescription medication. More likely, it will just transfer the cost to someone else.
Americans are saying they can’t afford the transfer.
We spent $5.3 trillion on healthcare in the US in 2024. That equates to $15,474 per person and is 18% of our GDP. Hospitals accounted for $1.63 trillion of that spend. Doctors and clinical services were $1.1 trillion. Prescription drugs were $467 billion. These are the costs we should be focusing on decreasing. Not who qualifies for coverage and what their benefits should be. That’s not decreasing cost it’s shifting it.
Those With Health Insurance Can’t Afford Healthcare Either
What should really worry us is that this isn’t only impacting the uninsured. A recent Commonwealth Fund survey showed that almost 25% of working-age Americans who were insured the entire year are considered underinsured. Of those who are underinsured, 57% reported going without necessary healthcare because of cost. And 44% were paying off a medical/dental expense. Of those who went without healthcare, 41% reported that their condition got worse.
Let’s put that into perspective. We currently live in a world where you can have health insurance and not be able to afford healthcare. So by taking health insurance from more people we’re not going to fix this.
There is definitely room to reduce fraud and unnecessary healthcare use. We should keep reducing those areas, too. There should never be a blank check with Medicaid or Medicare. Or with any insurance, for that matter. We should all strive to get value from every healthcare dollar we spend.
However, there is a big difference between removing waste from our system and cutting the number of people who receive those benefits. One will improve our healthcare system. The other will improve the government’s books.
We Will See Voters Ask For Change
I feel like many in Washington are missing what our citizens want when it comes to healthcare. Healthcare affordability is becoming a household budget issue.
According to a recent KFF poll, 64% of Americans say they are concerned about affording healthcare. 55% of registered voters said healthcare costs will play a significant role in their decision to vote, and 61% said they will play a significant role in which party they vote for.
In another study conducted this year, 64% of Americans across all political affiliations listed high insurance costs/out-of-pocket expenses as a major problem with our healthcare system.
These polls were conducted in 2026.
Whether you agree that we should provide healthcare to all Americans or not, there seems to be consensus that our current costs are too high.
When Gallup asked Americans in late 2025 if they believed providing healthcare coverage to all Americans should be the responsibility of the federal government, 64% said yes. Only 2 years ago that number was 42%. When broken down by political affiliation, the gap is still very wide. 90% of Democrats and 73% of Independents felt that way vs. only 26% of Republicans.
So this is where we as an industry need to tread carefully.
How We Get To Medicare For All
Many will argue that we will never reach Medicare for All. Maybe we never will. But if we keep raising insurance costs, denying people coverage, and making it harder and harder for patients to receive the care their doctors prescribe, Voters are going to want change.
They won’t be asking how we can fix our current healthcare system. They will be asking why we should. That doesn’t mean everyone agrees on what a Medicare for All system would look like. Obviously not. But we need to start addressing our rising healthcare costs.
Taking healthcare away from others doesn’t lower healthcare costs. We are simply decreasing access to it. If we keep believing that cutting government spending will lower healthcare costs, we may end up with the very thing we’re trying to avoid.
