Further from coverage and closer to profit, health insurance giants must take accountability

As the incessant flu and COVID out­breaks continue to plague the US this winter season, it is not unheard of to take further precau­tions to keep your health in good shape. Whether that's getting your flu shot, taking essential vitamins, or even washing your hands a few more times a day, lots of people are taking the extra step to avoid the seemingly never-ending sicknes ses being passed around. While these rituals seem to work for the majori­ty, few find that not even their daily multivitamin can protect them from coming down with something. In the 2021-2022 flu season, there were more than 4 million medical visits and over 10, 000 hospitaliza­tions for the influenza virus alone.

Combining the 10, 000 hospitaliza- tions from the flu alongside of co- vid hospitalizations for the 2021­2022 winter months, the number of people visiting and staying at healthcare facilities in this short time frame is pushing well into the millions. As these numbers continue to rise, so does the cost of healthcare. Since 2010, individ­ual insurance premiums have risen over 58 percent, and family insur­ance premiums have risen more than 63 percent. Despite these sky­rocketing numbers, health insur­ance still manages to cover less and less each year. While health insurance compa­nies are moving further from cov­erage and closer to profit, more and more

Americans are drowning in medical bills, struggling to make ends meet. The top five health in­surance companies, (United Health Group, Anthem, Centene, Humana, and Blue Cross Blue Shield) col­lectively generated a profit of over $720 billion in 2022 alone. The largest of the five insurance companies, United Health Group, raked in over $324 billion this year and is projected to bring in more than $360 billion in 2023. These re­cord-breaking profits are an embar­rassment to our healthcare system as hospitals are struggling to keep the lights on and patients are unable to cover these absurd costs. In 2017, with full control of Washington, Republicans worked to repeal Obamacare only to come up short. Now that they have the majority again, we need to encour­age the new leadership to offer a bold new vision that puts patients over profits and offers legislation that would protect American pa­tient's access to affordable care. This is an opportunity for Congress to finally implement policies that will hold insurers accountable. A survey taken in 2019 shows that Americans collectively owe around $195 billion in medical debt and that number will only continue to rise.

The US healthcare system is clearly no friend to anyone; howev­er, this system is especially cruel to minority groups. While Americans owe around $195 billion in medical debt, the burden is unevenly dis­tributed among American citizens. 28 percent of black households hold medical debt compared to 17 per­cent of white households. Surveys have shown that in parts of the US, people living in commu­nities of color are four times more likely to have medical debt com­pared to those living in predomi­nantly white communities. The racial disparities in health­care continue to devastate minor- ity groups and the price gauging of health insurance companies is of no help. As year 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic begins and flu season is in full throttle, health insurance companies need to start becoming our allies rather than our enemies. These insurance companies are bringing in enough profit to wipe out all medical debt several times over, yet millions of Americans, and especially minorities, are con­sistently losing sleep over how to pay off surprise medical bills and monthly premiums. A system put in place to help pa­tients get the health care they need is now strictly serving big insur­ance. It's time for health insurance giants to be held accountable, and work for their patients instead of against them. Jessica Ann Tyson is president of the Frederick Douglass Foun­dation Michigan Chapter. She was appointed to Building the 21st Century Economy Commission and Michigan Board of Nursing De­partment of Licensing & Regula­tory Affairs Bureau of Health Care Services by former Governor Rick Snyder in 2014.