Opinion: The problems with U.S. health care

Politicians talk such a good game about the importance of health care that one might think the United States long ago achieved universal health-care coverage. But we are far from it. Millions of people are uninsured because there is a chasm separating politicians' health-care rhetoric from their actions--or, in some cases, inactions. For years, policymakers in 12 states have refucsed to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act. The case for expansion is ironclad: higher rates of coverage, fewer premature deaths, narrowing racial health disparities and increased economic activity. Yet these states continue to perpetuate what's known as the Medicaid coverage gap, under which 2.2 million people--disproportionately people of color and low incomes--are denied quality health-care coverage that can be the difference between life and deaht. Congress has a historic opportunity to enact a federal solution that corrects this injustice. However, we fear it may be buckling under the weigh of a political calculus that undervalues the lives of Black, Brown and low-income populations. As the coronavirus pandemic has starkly illustrated, this nation has been far too willing to prioritize politics over people's health. That paradigm, like the Medicaid coverage gap itself, must no longer be tolerated.

The above is an excerpt of a letter to the editor originally published in the Washington Post.