U.S. Health Care Flunks Its Most Important Exam

We spend $4 trillion a year, yet we were totally overwhelmed by Covid-19

- By John Tozzi

The new coronavirus was a test of America’s ability to protect the health of its people, and the country failed. The U.S. has the greatest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the world. Months after arriving in the U.S., the virus that wrecked the economy with disorienting velocity continues to inflict an unfathomable human toll.

The U.S. isn’t alone in failing to stop the coronavirus. But it is unique in how much of the nation’s economic resources are devoted to health care—about 18% of gross domestic product, more than any other country. The spending, approaching $4 trillion a year from taxpayers, employers, and households, is what makes America’s vulnerability to Covid-19 striking. What are we spending $4 trillion for, if not to avert disease and death?

The virus exposed some of the structural weaknesses in America’s approach to health care and health. Diagnostic tests, delayed and in short supply, were inadequate to detect the virus’s early spread. Hospitals with billions of dollars in revenue couldn’t secure dollar masks to protect staff. Local health departments charged with containing communicable diseases were quickly overwhelmed. They’re now scrambling to hire epidemiologists and contact tracers to track the pathogen as the country reopens. Neglect of public health funding has left U.S. companies playing catch-up to build the infrastructure to develop and manufacture a vaccine.