• The modern U.S. healthcare crisis has its roots in the early 20th century, when corporate interests started taking precedence over medicine and public health, leading to the prioritization of profit over care.
• Healthcare spending has surged dramatically, from total expenditures of $200 billion in 1979 to over $4.9 trillion in 2023.
• Despite high spending, access to decent and affordable care remains unequal.
• Growth in healthcare spending rapidly accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with spending increasing by 10.4 from 2019 to 2020 and annual growth rates remaining elevated above historical averages.
• Today’s healthcare industry remains dominated by special interest groups and is reined in by a larger, domineering business class which sustains the status quo of prioritizing economic power over affordability and accessibility.

The United States’ healthcare system has undergone significant transformations brought about by its historical relationship with American capitalism. This has led to massive growth in healthcare spending to the detriment of American consumers and massive damage to the state of American healthcare.

In the book “Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America” by E. Richard Brown, originally published in 1979, the author noted that the origins of the modern healthcare crisis has its roots in the early 20th century.

During this period, the medical profession, corporate interests and philanthropic foundations shaped a system that prioritized economic and social control over public health needs. The rise of corporate capitalism coincided with the professionalization of medicine, leading to a system that emphasized technological innovation and private profit.

By the 1970s, the consequences of this system were already evident. Healthcare costs had skyrocketed, with total expenditures reaching around $200 billion in 1979, or nearly $1,000 per person.

Adjusted for inflation, this is a little under $867 billion in total healthcare expenditure today, or about $2,600 per person – which is notably far less than actual healthcare spending in 2023 of $4.9 trillion, or $14,570 per person.

Despite the high cost of healthcare even in 1979, access to care remained uneven. While expanding access, the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s fueled inflation by injecting funds into a privately controlled system, and access to subsidized care through Medicare and Medicaid was often inadequate. Primary care physicians were often scarce, especially in rural and low-income areas.

Healthcare spending continues to skyrocket despite very limited improvements in access to and affordability of care

By 2000, healthcare spending had skyrocketed to $1.4 trillion, or a little under $5,000 per person. The biggest growth indicator according to the data seems to be the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated growth in healthcare spending, with a 10.4 percent increase in spending from 2019 to 2020. This trend slowed slightly but still far above historical rates, with growth from 2022 to 2023 being 7.5 percent – far outpacing the average annual growth rate of 4.1 percent during the 2010s. (Related: Hospitals willingly subjected patients to deadly protocols during the pandemic to generate financial incentives from government.)

The composition of healthcare spending has also shifted. Hospital expenditures accounted for 31.2 percent of total spending in 2023, while physicians and clinics represented 20.1 percent. Prescription drugs, which saw the fastest growth in spending from 2020 to 2023, made up 9.2 percent of total expenditures. Out-of-pocket costs per capita rose to $1,514 in 2023, driven by increased spending on hospital care, physician services and nursing facilities.

Private health insurance remains the largest source of health consumption expenditures, accounting for 30.1 percent of total spending in 2023. Public insurance programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program), represented 43 percent. While out-of-pocket costs have increased in absolute terms, they now constitute a smaller share of total health expenditures compared to previous decades.

In his book, Brown explains that special interest groups invested in the healthcare industry, such as doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and Big Pharma, have been granted the opportunity “to develop their own bases of economic power, enabling them to carve out and defend their turfs in the marketplace.”

The larger corporate or “business class,” Brown argues, stands above these healthcare interest groups and remains committed to making sure that the status quo in American healthcare remains in place.

Watch this episode of the “Health Ranger Report” as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, argues that the solution to reforming American healthcare lies in decentralization.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

U.S. healthcare system wastes 25 cents for every $1 spent – can Team Trump fix it?

Follow the money: Most young doctors are financially enslaved by the drug industry, and it’s destroying American healthcare.

The “public health” agenda of U.S. regulators and pharmaceutical companies is actually a PUBLIC DEATH agenda.

Sources include:

HealthSystemTracker.org

Brighteon.ai

MinneapolisFed.org

CMS.gov

Brighteon.com