Quality, Affordable Care Should Be a Right
Healthcare
Jan Schneider believes not only the wealthy deserve to be healthy. Quality, affordable healthcare should be a right.
A Path Toward Medicare for All
Medicare-for-All is a single-payer system in which the United States federal government would administer healthcare financing, but delivery of care and medical infrastructure would remain privately or locally-controlled. Congress should consider moving toward such a system and also expanding dental, vision and hearing benefits under current Medicare.
Protecting the Affordable Care Act
Meanwhile, Congress must bolster, not undermine, the Affordable Care Act of 2010. The ACA, also known as “Obamacare”, was a major and increasingly popular step forward in expanding health insurance coverage. President Donald Trump and his Republican-controlled Congress, have, however, engaged in a campaign of sabotage against the ACA and other health insurance programs. Most recently, in the One Big Beautiful [Bad] Bill, they refused to extend ACA enhanced premium tax credits expiring at the end of 2025, resulting in millions of Americans experiencing massive health insurance premium hikes. Overall, the Congressional Budget Office has projected that the combined health coverage cuts from the OBBB will leave up to 15 to 16 million more Americans uninsured by 2034.
An Expensive System With Poor Outcomes
Meanwhile, the U.S. healthcare system is sick. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development statistics for 2025, our country remains first by far among the 38 members in health spending. We spend $14,885 per capita or 17.2% of gross domestic product annually, well above the OECD averages of $5,967 and 9.3%. Nevertheless, the U.S. ranks very low on health status indicators. Among other things, our country is down in the lowest ten in terms of life expectancy at birth at 78.4 years (2.7 years below the OECD average) and way up near the top on preventable mortality at 217 per 100,000 (compared to the OECD 145 average). U.S. prescription drug prices are also nearly three times higher than the OECD average.
Jan’s Healthcare Priorities
In my view, the United States should, among other things, reinstitute ACA extended tax credits; transition to Medicare for All; reverse Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and other healthcare cuts; and better fund and improve the Veterans Health Administration. Medicare should also be allowed broadly to negotiate prescription drug prices, and the U.S. should authorize importation of eligible drugs from Canada and other approved industrial countries.
