No health system is perfect, however healthcare in the United States has been failing us miserably during this pandemic. People are afraid to go to the doctor because they can't afford it and don't want to face debt,  or even worse, bankruptcy.  Our current for-profit system is broken and dangerous. 

The JAMA Health Forum has been publishing a variety of articles which address existing racial disparities, and how these inequities are affecting health justice.

After going to Denver Health for severe COVID-19 symptoms, a patient was told he did not meet the official requirements therefore could not receive the COVID-19 test.  It was assumed he was positive, so he was sent home to self-quarantine.  Subsequently, he received a bill for $3278 for his visit to the ER.

A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlights how between 25 -43 million workers could lose their health insurance as they begin losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many American workers receive their health insurance through their employers and with so many of them now being laid off, the question is What Will They Do? 

The illusion that Americans have choice in their healthcare is prominently reported on, yet not completely accurate.  Healthcare as we know it is more of a commodity than anything else.  Americans are led to believe that our plans cover our needs, but in reality many people opt out of treatment or medicine due to high costs, not covered by their plans.

Juan Gonzalez from Democracy Now! reports on his concern and frustration with our healthcare system and how it is failing during this pandemic.  His 92-year old mother and his wife both have contracted COVID-19 and he had to fight to get his mother admitted to the hospital. He promotes the need for a grassroots effort to change our current healthcare system and to also help our undocumented immigrants during this crisis and beyond. 

Now more than ever, the coronavirus pandemic has brought to light the urgent need for universal healthcare.  The cost of healthcare keeps increasing yet our access to quality care does not. Why? Corporatism has put an emphasis on profit instead of on the patient.

There are many options that claim to be answer to our troubled and costly healthcare system, but a single-payer plan that is publicly funded is the only solution. Our current corporatized model is the reason why so many Americans are calling for reform as the only means to repair our dysfunctional healthcare system.

A frequent assertion by the commercial health insurance industry, echoed by mainstream media and many candidates, is the need for greater 'choice' of private health insurance. However, experience demonstrates that 'choice' remains with insurers, who arbitrarily drop unprofitable plans, medicines, doctors and hospitals, too often leaving the insured high and dry. Insurers can and do choose to cover the healthy, more profitable clients, and drop the sick. Insurance science proves that a single large risk pool insurance like traditional Medicare is much more actuarially sound and financially sustainable than multiple administratively complex small risk pool commercial insurers.

If the United States had a single-payer healthcare system, we would have more coordinated efforts and effective treatments in place to combat COVID-19.  This would help us save lives.