Best Health Care, Really?

As the rest of the world is confronting new outbreaks of Covid-19, statistically they might begin to catch up to the United States. Or they would, if the United States stood still or even plateaued in the numbers of cases and deaths here. Other countries have higher death rates per million, but the staggering question for Americans has to be, what happened here? I do not lay the blame for Covid-19 at the feet of our president any more than I blame anyone else. It is a disease. Diseases happen. That being said, it baffles me why the country with the alleged best healthcare system in the world is doing so poorly among the so-called industrialized nations among whom America is supposed to be the leader.. There is one thing that sets us apart from almost every other nation in our “class,” especially in response to Covid-19. You can point to a lack of central leadership. It is a factor. You can point to the divisiveness among Americans over what should be no-brainer methods of containment. It contributes. Ultimately, though, there has been a fundamental lack of coordination between the myriad levels of government and the widely diverse healthcare system. In a word, health insurance is driving the bus. Or, rather, not driving when it should be. We tout our healthcare system as the best in the world. However, our overall ranking by the World Health Organization puts us at Number 37 in the world. What the nations above us have that we don't is universal healthcare, the one-payer system. When will we stubborn stupid Americans realize that the open market system does not work for everything and in every case? If it shows us nothing else, Covid-19 makes a great case for single payer, MediCare for all. It's not the perfect solution, but neither is it the death knell for capitalism. It gives protection to every consumer and worker who forms the foundation for every capitalist's dreams. And guess what? You'll save money paycheck to paychek!