Former US Surgeon General sharply criticizes the US health care system

Dr. Jerome Adams, former U.S. Surgeon General and current director of health equity initiatives at Purdue University, criticized the U.S. health care system after receiving an emergency department bill totaling $4,896.43 for dehydration treatment.

As we reported, Adams has been settled total after receiving three intravenous fluid bags and one lab test. Even with insurance, Adams received a sum that prompted him to post his outrage on social media.

“Yes, people. This is America. The land of the free and the home of medical bankruptcy,” Adams wrote on X, before noting that he had opted for a payment plan to assist manage the overall costs incurred by the emergency facility.

Adams he later said If I find myself in this case with my knowledge, financial resources and pulpit, the average Joe has no likelihood. The system is just broken.”

Adams continued: “There are a lot of flaws in the system that could cause other people to get into debt, ruin their credit, or have to make choices about the things they need to do,” Adams said. “I have three high schoolers and two kids going to college. If I was out of my income bracket, I could make the choice to pay a medical bill or pay my child’s college tuition.”

March 1 KFF conducted a survey on the costs of American health care, asking American residents to reflect on their experiences in the U.S. health care system. According to polling results, half of American adults say it’s difficult to afford health care in America, and 1 in 4 say they or a member of the family had difficulty paying for health care in the past yr. Additionally, most of those concerned about rising health care costs are uninsured, low-income Americans and Black or Latino adults.

In 2019, an article by Nikole Hannah Jones suggested that the predominant reason America has not adopted a single-payer system is race, or more specifically, racism. Article by Jeneen Interlandi tracks the timeline of US health policy from the antebellum era to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. But in line with Evelynn Hammonds, a historian of science at Harvard University, “There has never been a period in American history when black health was equal to white health. The discrepancy is built into the system.” Interlandi closes the article by noting that while the Affordable Care Act has helped alleviate a few of these disparities, there has never been a chunk of federal policy that completely eliminated them.

For years, progressive politicians have been calling for the introduction of a single-payer system, but they warn that: a window to attain radical change in the healthcare system is closing down quickly. According to Democratic political strategist Chris Jennings, that is because the current political landscape doesn’t allow it.

“The political environment does not allow for massive policy changes,” Jennings said. “You can deal with it by doing nothing, or by taking an important step forward and gaining as much as you can, and laying the groundwork for more progress when the opportunity arises.”

Jennings also said that while sweeping changes like Medicare For All will probably be politically unattainable in the future, that doesn’t suggest smaller, more gradual changes won’t work. Jennings also called on the Democratic Party to take motion to make health insurance more cost-effective for the average American.

“In terms of policy design, these are not blunders,” Jennings said. “But we shouldn’t downplay the importance of finishing the job – so that wherever you live, Americans have access to affordable health care. For me it matters; “It is a long unfulfilled obligation for Democrats.”