This is Jane Dough. She earns 60 thousand dollars a year. She's quite content. Little does she know that nearly 20 percent of that paycheck is going to be spent on healthcare. You see. Jane lives in the United States and the United States spends double what other similar countries pay per person on health care, but has worse health outcomes, declining life expectancy, higher maternal and infant mortality rates, higher rates of medical error. Just last year, the United States spent over three trillion on healthcare expenditures. Three trillion with the T. Yep. 

An ambulance ride to the nearest hospital in America can cost thousands. Jane do's trip cost her about 1300 dollars, but her insurance is going to cover 1 thousand and 50. In essence. Jane Doe, before even stepping foot in a hospital or meeting a doctor, has already racked up a charge of 200 and 50 dollars. Once admitted, a nurse conducts an electrocardiogram that costs 400 dollars. A doctor orders a few tests to rule out a heart attack. Blood tests cost about 1 thousand dollars. Blood tests means venomuncture 20 dollars, urine tests 83 dollars, chest x-ray 300 and 48 dollars, the overall ER admission fee 2900 and 61 dollars. So that's 4800 and 12 dollars for the hospital visit on top of the 200 and 50 dollars for the ambulance. Now the hospital was in network, so her insurance negotiated it all the way down to 3700 and 11 dollars. But that's not all. Jane doe's insurance only covers a portion of the ER doctor's bill, leaving her with another burden of 200 and 50 dollars. So that's 3700 and 11 dollars for the hospital visit 200 and 50 dollars for the doctor, 200 and 50 for the ambulance. That leaves Jane Doe with a grand owed total of 4200 and 11 dollars. 

Luckily. Jane Dough pays 400 and 42 dollars a month over 5300 dollars a year in healthcare premiums so her insurance should kick in and lighten the financial load. Right. Not quite, jane Dough has a 4 thousand dollars annual deductible with Blue Cross Blue Shield that she hasn't yet met. That means she's responsible for all the medical costs until she has spent 4 thousand dollars that year. That means that anything less than 4 thousand dollars is hers to handle. In this case, that's all 4 thousand dollars. In 2017, nearly half of all insured Americans said it was difficult to pay their medical bills before their deductible kicked in. Why are we like those? Well, it's mostly because insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the rest of the healthcare industry are able to charge what they want and increase prices at a whim. But what if they weren't allowed to? What if the United States had a program in place that let Americans get the care they need without the crippling debt?

There iS A Better Way