Why Isn’t Healthcare a Basic Human Right in America?

If I have a sore throat and a trained medical professional, say a doctor, recommends an antibiotic, why does an insurance company, specifically one without a medical degree, need to approve this transaction?

tHaT’s HoW iT aLwAyS wOrKs.

YoU kNoW hOw ExPeNsIvE iT wOuLd Be WiThOuT iNsUrAnCe?

So, let me get this straight. A doctor after examining a patient says, “Here’s what I recommend blah, blah, blah.” The patient then must get approval for “blah, blah, blah” from an insurance company. If a doctor, who goes to school for a decade studying medicine and human health, suggests a treatment, why should anyone other than the patient decide whether or not to take the doctor’s diagnosis? There’s no need for the middleman. It’s an extra step to get medical care and a costly one at that.

But that’s not what health insurance companies suggest. Many use what I call the “Big, Fat Lies Of Health Insurance” to defend their very existence:

• Access
• Financial protection
• System management

And I thought I was a sarcastic, asshole.

Health insurance companies are marketing EXACTLY the opposite of what they provide. I can prove it, too. Let’s take a health insurance company that champions these concepts, despite doing the opposite. I guess we could really pick any health insurance company, but for the sake of argument, let’s use UnitedHealth Group’s mission statements compared to what the company and its subsidiaries, like United Healthcare, actually do.

Big, Fat Lie of Health Insurance #1: Access

Claim: “(UnitedHealth Group) work with health care professionals and other key partners to expand access to high-quality health care so people get the care they need at an affordable price.”

A 2024 study found that individuals enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans had access to only 40% of local physicians within their plan’s network on average. 23% of enrollees were in plans that included less than a quarter of local physicians, while a mere 4% had plans encompassing more than three-quarters of local doctors. That doesn’t seem like more access to medical professionals. Oh, and who’s the largest provider of ACA plans? United Healthcare.

Big, Fat Lie of Health Insurance #2: Financial Protection

Claim: “(UnitedHealth Group) are committed to helping individuals and families protect their financial well-being by reducing out-of-pocket costs and ensuring affordable care options.”

In 2024, Americans paid the most they ever have for health insurance. The average health insurance premium for families was $25,572 per year, while single workers paid an average of $8,951, representing a 6% and 7% increase from the previous year, respectively.

Back in 2016, The New York Times  found nearly 80 percent of people who filed bankruptcy due to medical bills had health insurance at the time they got sick. Even crazier, the majority of people who experience medical bankruptcy were employed, college-educated homeowners.

How is that financial protection for the insured?

Big, Fat Lie of Health Insurance #3: System Management

Claim: “(UnitedHealth Group) seeks to enhance the performance of the health system and improve the overall health and well-being of the people we serve and their communities.”

Health insurance companies like United Healthcare say they “streamline administrative processes that improve patient care coordination.” That’s business speak for, they’re trying to move you through the system as fast and cheap as possible. That’s a fine way to run a business, if you’re selling shoes, not you know, whether someone lives or dies.

I’ve also seen a lot of articles (me included) claiming that UnitedHealthcare denies patients’ claims at the highest rate of any major insurer, but that might not be accurate. Part of the issue with proving what the denial rate is that the federal government and private health insurers don’t make data on claim denials for all types of insurance plans available to the public. Yikes. Now, why would the health insurance industry be transparent about the decisions that suits, most with no medical degrees or training, pertaining to the health and well-being of the people they provide for? I’d say that information is a matter of public health, trust, and safety. And once again, why are doctor recommendations denied by anyone other than the patient? It shouldn’t be a conversation between anyone else. It’s absurd.

Is National Healthcare Really a Radical Idea?

Look if an ice cream shop sells overpriced cones and never has the flavors or toppings you want, you’d stop going to that ice cream shop and find a new one. Why can’t Americans do this with health insurance? Most Americans hate our healthcare system because if we get sick or hurt, it’ll either kill or financially ruin us. Just a roll of the dice, baby and pray for good health. This is a known fact about the American Experience, so why hasn’t any major healthcare insurance company gone out of business? Especially companies like United Healthcare who are hated by Americans and medical professionals alike? It’s called an oligopoly, and somehow, it’s worse than a monopoly.

Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt pushed for a national healthcare program decades ago, but most of us can’t even remember what happened last week. Healthy countries across the world have implemented national healthcare that serves its people, not greedy suits profiting off whether or not to deny someone a basic human right. Are there issues with a national healthcare system? Of course. No system is perfect, especially with humans involved, but a national healthcare system gives Americans’ dignity, and a basic human right guaranteed when Americans declared their independence in 1776.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I’d argue that the health insurance industry getting involved with a medical professional and a patient is a violation of that whole “Life” promise. Especially if the health insurance industry goes against the doctor’s recommendations and patient’s wishes.

Under our current healthcare system there’s limited access, financial ruin, and an excess in denied claims. The industry is making worse the very things they claim to prevent. Why hasn’t any branch of our government stepped in on behalf of the well-being of American citizens?

There are examples around the world of government’s implementing national healthcare programs that treat citizens as humans rather than piggy banks for made-up and unnecessary industries to ravish. How about we keep our money, abolish this inhumane and barbaric industry and establish a national healthcare program that actually serves Americans?

In a fair and free market like capitalism, isn’t the freedom to choose which companies and businesses Americans give our hard-earned money, too? Why do we have to keep paying for health insurance, which has been proven to financially ruin people while assisting in the murder of tens of thousands of Americans every year? With all of America’s money, technology, resources, and freedom, we should have the best healthcare system in the world. Why don’t we?

Because health isn’t a right in America, it’s a business.

Happy New Year, y’all. I’m back on my bullshit. Let’s make 2025 the year we achieve a national healthcare program that works for everyone especially those less financially fortunate than others.

Stay weird.