Summary of Yale
University team's findings - “Improving the prognosis
of health care in the USA”
Although health care expenditure per
capita is higher in the USA than in any other country, more than 37 million
Americans do not have health insurance, and 41 million more have inadequate
access to care.
Efforts are ongoing to repeal the
Affordable Care Act which would exacerbate health-care inequities.
By contrast, a universal system,
such as that proposed in the Medicare for All Act, has the potential to
transform the availability and efficiency of American health-care services.
Taking into account both the costs
of coverage expansion and the savings that would be achieved through the
Medicare for All Act, we calculate that a single-payer, universal health-care
system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national health-care expenditure,
equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually (based on the value of the US$
in 2017).
The entire system could be funded
with less financial outlay than is incurred by employers and households paying
for health-care premiums combined with existing government allocations.
This shift to single-payer health
care would provide the greatest relief to lower-income households.
Furthermore, we estimate that
ensuring health-care access for all Americans would save more than 68,000 lives
and 1·73 million life-years every year compared with the status quo.