From: Alexandra Bixler
Columbus
Nearly every candidate that runs for office in the United States places healthcare as one of their top campaign priorities. They promise to make healthcare more “affordable” for you and your family. Nonetheless, problems in our healthcare system persist, and the status quo remains unchanged. The U.S. healthcare system is broken, and is currently being put to the test in the wake of COVID as Americans lose their jobs and insurance.
The United States has one of the lowest affordability rates in the industrial world, despite spending the most on healthcare per capita at a total of $2.6 trillion a year. Additionally, as of 2019, 13% of American adults said they lost at least one friend or family member in the last five years because they could not afford medical treatment. This is partially attributed to unaffordable drug prices. Thirty percent of Americans from ages 50-64 experience difficulty affording their prescription drugs. This is a result of the abuse of patents. Drug manufacturers use their patent to create a monopoly on production, artificially increase costs, and engage in “evergreening” to extend patents even if the drug’s functional purposes remain unchanged.
These flaws in the healthcare system are attributed to the health industry’s purposeful infiltration of Congress. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and health products spent almost $300 million in 2019 alone to lobby Congress and ensure the status quo of our healthcare system does not change, while posting record profits for their shareholders. These contributions are not simply donations: they’re investments. Healthcare players expect a return on their investment in the form of higher profit margins, tax cuts, subsidies, politicians opposing any public option, and strengthening the very patent laws that make drug prices so unaffordable. The breakup of recipients from health products and big pharma is split by party nearly 50-50. Democrats and Republicans are guilty of putting the interests of big donors before your health.
While it is clear something needs to change, the candidate who raises the most money in an election wins 91% of the time. The bulk of this funding often comes from out-of-state Super PACs or big donors, not the constituents that are supposed to be represented by their legislator. To see the change in our healthcare industry, Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that created Super PACs, which allows unlimited dark money to infiltrate our elections, needs to be overturned.
One group actively working towards this goal is American Promise, a bipartisan organization solely focused on the passage of a 28th amendment that would ensure fair elections, and enact meaningful campaign finance reform. While COVID-19 has impacted us all, it has certainly been exacerbated by our healthcare system, which has been long broken from big pharma and the healthcare industry.
