What is the biggest reason people in the US don t have health insurance?
The high cost of insurance was reported for more than half of all uninsured nonelderly adults and uninsured children as a reason for their uninsurance. Job-related reasons were the second most common explanation for uninsurance for both uninsured adults (41 percent) and children (31 percent).
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, 74 percent of uninsured working-age adults in 2019 cited high costs as the reason why they lacked coverage.
Inadequate health insurance coverage is one of the largest barriers to health care access,3 and the unequal distribution of coverage contributes to disparities in health.
As policy experts have pointed out in studies of the U.S. health system, the country doesn't “have a comprehensive national health insurance system because American political institutions are structurally biased against this kind of comprehensive reform.”
Age. Three-quarters of the uninsured are adults (ages 18–64 years), while one-quarter of the uninsured are children. Compared with other age groups, young adults are the most likely to go without coverage.
Lack of scientific knowledge. Racial, ethnic, sexual, and age discrimination in employment practices. Lack of infrastructure (roads, communication lines, efficient government, healthcare facilities, education facilities) Corrupt or incompetent governments.
A 2023 survey found that over half of U.S. individuals indicated the cost of accessing treatment was the biggest problem facing the national healthcare system. This is much higher than the global average of 31 percent and is in line with the high cost of health care in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries.
Yet the U.S. is the only country that doesn't have universal health coverage. The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and among the highest suicide rates.
Obesity is a key risk factor for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. The U.S. has the highest obesity rate among the countries studied — two times higher than the OECD average and approximately four times higher than in Switzerland and Norway.
Affordability remains a key reason 30 million adults remain uninsured. Our findings show more than a third of uninsured adults who did not try to get coverage through the marketplaces cited affordability concerns.
Why is the US ranked so low in healthcare?
People in the US see doctors less often than those in most other countries, which is probably related to the US having a below-average number of practicing physicians, according to the report, and the US is the only country among those studied that doesn't have universal health coverage.
When asked specifically about problems paying for health care in the past year, one in four adults say they or a family member in their household had problems paying for care, including three in ten adults under age 50 and those with lower household incomes (under $40,000).
There are many possible reasons for that increase in healthcare prices: The introduction of new, innovative healthcare technology can lead to better, more expensive procedures and products. The complexity of the U.S. healthcare system can lead to administrative waste in the insurance and provider payment systems.
Key Takeaways
While there is no federal requirement for adults to have health insurance, it's essential to consider the importance of having coverage to protect your health and finances in the event of unexpected medical expenses.
However, Brazil is the only country in the world that offers free healthcare for all its citizens. Also, Norway is the first country in the world to implement a free healthcare policy as far back as 1912.
The Best Healthcare Systems in the World in 2024
What country has the best healthcare, according to this assessment? Singapore comes in at No. 1! Other countries with the best healthcare are listed below.
What Are the Consequences of Having No Health Insurance? Not having health insurance can lead to large debt, affect your health if you delay care and may even hurt you at tax time, depending on your state.
Despite spending a huge amount of money on healthcare, the United States doesn't have enough doctors, dentists, nurses, mental health practitioners, pharmacists or home healthcare workers. And that workforce shortage is getting worse. Most countries spend between 10% and 15% of their healthcare budgets on primary care.
uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage.
Between high insurance costs, inadequate transportation systems and appointment availability issues, potential patients often encounter insurmountable obstacles to the health care they need and deserve.
Why is the US healthcare system so complex?
The U.S. spends over $3 trillion a year on healthcare, which accounts for nearly 18% of the nation's GDP. With that much money involved, it's impossible to simplify the system without shifting or eliminating some of those expenditures.
Heart disease and stroke still the leading causes of death for both U.S. men and women.
The underperforming healthcare system lacks some of the factors that fuel innovation in other industries and countries: Consumers have not been cost sensitive because their employers and health plans often cover a large share of their costs, and because they lack the information required to assess quality and cost.
The U.S. health disadvantage probably has multiple explanations, some of which may be causally interconnected, such as unemployment and a lack of health insurance. Other explanations may share antecedents, especially those rooted in social inequality.
It stems from a variety of factors, including an aging population, increasing patient acuity, and a limited pipeline of new healthcare professionals.
