No solution, government or private, is going to end the problem as long as the cost of HC is increasing at a rate twice the rate of inflation, folks.
The private insurance system we had worked fairly well back when most Americans actually worked for a living and the median age in this nation was about ten years less than it is now.
But now, now that age-demographics and rising prices of continuously more complex (and slightly better) HC are eroding our ability to pay (regardless of what system we have in place) we are facing a real problem, and one that neither capitalism OR socialism seems to have any REAL long term solution for.
The median salary for a GP in the usa is $135,000. Many medical MD specialites have median incomes twice that amount. And that's SALARIES, not what they're making in private practices!
The median salary for nurses is $41, 642.
The median salary for Americans overall is $21,587.
And the incomes of HC providers is only a small part of the problem, too.
Through in the cost of highly specialized technicians, the rising prices of new drugs, and medical equipment, and the problem become obvious.
HC gets more expensive because it gets better, and the market demand for it is increasing as the media age of Americans get older, too.
It's ONLY going to get worse, folks.
An aging population, and a population whose incomes are declining combine to make HC a real problem regardless of what solutions we apply or don't apply.
Tryingot blame liberals or capitalists or socialism or capitalism for this state of affairs might be satisfying for some of you ideaologues, but it is simply wrong.
Maybe you are talking about individuals, instead of households but....
Are you sure about this number? $21,857?
Household income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The median income divides households in the US evenly in the middle with half of all household earning more than the median income and half of all households earning less than the median household income.
In 2004 the median household income in the United States was $43,389.[citation needed] According to the US Census Bureau, the median is "considerably lower than the average, and provides a more accurate representation."[55] Considering other racial and geographical differences in regards to household income, it should come as no surprise that the median household income varies with race, size of household and geography. The state with the highest median household income in the United States as of the US Census Bureau 2005/06 is New Jersey with $66,752, followed by Maryland, Hawaii and Connecticut, making the Northeastern United States the wealthiest area by income in the entire country.[56] In terms of region the median household income was as follows: "Northeast ($47,994), West ($47,680) and South ($40,773)." Median household income in the Mid-West declined by 2.8% to $44,657.[57] While median household income has a tendency to increase up to four persons per household, it declines thereon after. This indicated that while four person households have larger incomes than those with one, two or three members, households seem to earn progressively less as their size increases beyond four persons. According to the US Census Bureau 2004 Community Survey, two-person households had a median income of $39,755, with $48,957 for three-person households, $54,338 for four-person households, $50,905 for five-person households, $45,435 for six-person households, with seven-or-more-person households having the second lowest median income of only $42,471..[58] In terms of race, Asian-Americans households had the highest median household income of $57,518, European-American households ranked second with $48,977, Hispanic or Latino households ranked third with $34,241. African American or Black households had the lowest median household income of all races with $30,134.[57]