With 23 million U.S. adults qualifying for medical debt and over thirty million lacking health insurance, healthcare in the US is not only necessary to consider but also to critique. While some argue that expanding healthcare offerings would be harmful to the economy and allocation of resources, the U.S. has prevailed for over two decades as the only developed country without universal healthcare, delivering no clear benefits.
US residents are subject to horror stories of everlasting medical debt for the middle class and unapproved home-remedies attempted by the lower class. From early labs, science and medicine has been placed on such a high, omniscient pedestal that people would rather risk their lives than devastate the rest of them fighting unmoving medical debt. Because medicine has been constructed as more of a privilege than a right in U.S. institutions, there’s the divisive conversation about “better quality” healthcare available at higher costs, for people with higher-ranked statuses. While there may be less complaints from those with insurance-offering jobs and/or those who can afford the best quality healthcare, only recognizing the health potential of the upper class doesn’t put the U.S. above any other countries in healthcare quality, life expectancy, or anything else.
One of the best examples of no clear in-group benefits in healthcare inequality is “Big Pharma.” With few supporters outside of its benefactors, “Big Pharma” monopolizes life-saving medicine and places markups around 25,000%, knowing it to be rather unobtainable to patients. For now.
Three months ago, billionaire investor Mark Cuban launched “CostPlus,” a drug company that sells commonly overpriced treatment drugs for their original production price (besides a 15% markup, $3 labor, and $5 shipping). It’s important to note billionaires just like Mark Cuban would be the sole benefactors of maintaining steady prices, but it’s become obvious that there’s no positive outcome from this. By making all pricing transparent including the necessary markup to run the company, Cuban proactively roots out all claims of corruption, which other drug companies have never been able to accomplish.
Individuals undermined by the healthcare system neglect their own health for many reasons; they can’t afford it, they feel disregarded by their health professional, and they don’t have ready access without transportation (which costs even more) or long wait times. Not only does CostPlus reform the way medications are priced, it reforms the way they’re purchased. This removes a large source of stress for many people with lower socioeconomic statuses, especially women, who are constantly told they don’t understand their own pain. While doctors and prescriptions are still part of the process, more autonomy is offered to the patient than ever before due to the ameliorated information provisions.
CostPlus offers generic versions of well-known treatments for a plethora of illnesses, from acid reflux, allergies, and coughs, all the way to cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other penetrating conditions. These two ends of the spectrum pose two completely different opportunities, both beneficial for U.S. residents. For the merely inconvenient conditions, anyone can place an online order for verifiably quality medicine at the lowest uninsured price without dealing with any middlemen or pharmacies. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this can be especially beneficial when the customer possesses a high-contagion disease or when there is an illness outbreak such as an epidemic or flared-up endemic. As for the life-threatening conditions, CostPlus is likely most beneficial to the uninsured, as insurance may cover the same amount of money Cuban is voiding. Thus, CostPlus is a gift to all U.S. residents, but it is revolutionary for the lower class and otherwise uninsured.