Hospital room and bed

Why Americans Pay so Much More for Health Care in 2024

December 28, 2024 | Source: USA Today | by Daniel de Visé

It might be easier to make sense of the recent fatal shooting of an insurance CEO, an act with ominous overtones about health care costs and insurance coverage, if any one aspect of health-care finance in America had gotten dramatically worse.

But what if there is no one thing?

Everything in American health care seems to cost more, across the board, year after year. Millions of insurance claims get denied. Medical debt routinely drives patients into bankruptcy. And patients see no relief in sight.

“Americans forgo necessary health care every single day, because they can’t afford it,” said Caroline Pearson, executive director of the nonprofit Peterson Center on Healthcare.