Healthcare and Income Inequality

I've spent a lot of time thinking about the recent tragic murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and how to respond. It's difficult to not have emotion as a driver, especially as someone who has utilized the healthcare system substantially this year.

A suspect is now in custody and media outlets have been digging into his background, desperately trying to piece together a narrative for why he did it. I’m not going to speculate and eventually, that story will also be told.

And then there’s social media.

UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of United Healthcare, recently posted a message on social media regarding the tragedy. Of the 77K reactions, almost 72K was the laughing emoji.

Before and after the suspect was captured, a barrage of support was going out for him. An alleged cold-blooded killer.

Shortly after the killing, Anthem Blue Cross announced that it planned to cap the length of time anesthesia can be covered during medical procedures in three states, prompting outrage. A tone-deaf announcement if there ever was one.

To say we have a crisis in America would be a massive understatement.

According to an article published yesterday in The Seattle Times, the U.S. life expectancy gap has widened to a full 20 years among different groups.? And life expectancy among all ethnic groups has fallen since 2020.

Yes, the pandemic played a role in that statistic, but if you look at the graph, there were already alarming negative trends among minorities and the economically disadvantaged.

According to the article, “We’re the only rich country that doesn’t have universal health care”

It also cites the preventable risk factors of obesity, physical inactivity, diet, smoking, and alcohol, most of which disproportionately impact minority and lower-income households.

Our food supply is loaded with ultra-processed foods which are cheap and staples of low-income households.

And income, education, and geography make a big difference in overall health outcomes.

There’s the income inequality gap coming into focus.? The widening gap between the haves and the have-nots is on full display and it’s killing citizens early and often from diseases and conditions that are largely preventable.

Add in a healthcare system largely driven by profit and that's a recipe for disaster.

So, what’s the solution?

This is a systemic problem and there isn’t a single easy answer.? Contributing factors include:

• Insurance driven by profit leads to insurers, not healthcare providers, determining patient care and treatment options, leading to less-than-optimal outcomes for most.
• Insurance availability.? Lower-income individuals and families have fewer options and are often uninsured.
• Income inequality gap. It’s widening and more people are being forced to make choices between food, housing, insurance, etc.?
• More people eating cheaper processed, low-quality food is creating more obesity and other preventable illnesses, all of which drive up the cost of healthcare.

If you want to put a tidy little narrative over the entire situation, it comes down to:

PROFITS OVER PEOPLE

If I were charged with solving the problems, here’s how I would start.

Universal Basic Income

We must get as many citizens as possible a livable wage.? And because I’m not one to just create handouts to solve the problem, I would also make basic financial literacy a requirement in all educational systems and for anyone receiving this basic universal income. You must teach people how to save and spend wisely.

Universal Healthcare

I know this one will irk a lot of folks in the healthcare space, but we must come up with a way to get everyone insured and get the doctors back to the front of the line making decisions with their patients about their personal care options. The insurance industry is going to need a revamp.? Climate change and other factors are causing massive losses in other insurance business units, and we can’t create an insurance collapse while trying to solve the healthcare crisis.

Incentivize food suppliers to stop using cheap fillers in food production

The FDA could be a leader of change in this area if it truly wants to serve the greater good.? We also must make healthy food affordable and accessible.? There are far too many food deserts in this country, even in larger population areas. The American diet must be a focal point of the healthcare crisis if we truly want to solve this problem. The cost of healthcare could be dramatically lowered if we started treating real food as medicine.

Incentivize employee ownership, co-op, and other business models so more employees participate in the wealth they are helping to create

We are in an era where private equity is gobbling up businesses, further consolidating the wealth and power in this country.? They have also been quietly buying up housing and we will eventually reach a point where the American dream of home ownership and starting your own business will be only found in history books.

People have the power to demand change. Unfortunately, desperate people will take desperate measures when all hope is seemingly lost. And that is our future if we don’t act and make these necessary changes.

We can do better; we must do better.