Why Our Healthcare Costs More and Delivers Less And What We Must Do About It

Michael Croley
Nov 21
2 min read

With Congress slashing Medicaid, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act funding, a lot of folks are focused on putting out fires. But there’s a bigger truth we keep missing:

America pays more for healthcare than any country in the developed world — and gets the worst results.

This isn’t a slogan. It’s documented by the Commonwealth Fund, which has been comparing U.S. healthcare to 10 peer nations — Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. — since 1980.

Back then, every one of those countries spent 5–8% of GDP on healthcare.Today?

United States: 19% of GDP
Other nations: 10–13% of GDP

If spending more bought us longer lives or fewer preventable deaths, maybe this would make sense. But it doesn’t. We spend double and die sooner.

So the obvious question: Why?

The System Stopped Being About Medicine — and Became About Profit

For decades, care was driven by doctors and hospitals making recommendations based on what patients needed. Insurance companies were boring, low-margin businesses.

That era is long gone.

Today, healthcare delivery is controlled by giant corporate insurers whose business model depends on denials, delays, and exclusions—not care.

United Healthcare alone reportedly denies nearly 30% of in-network claims.That’s not efficiency. That’s rationing by spreadsheet.

And while families fight over medical bills, the top insurers report profits and CEO salaries that speak for themselves:

United Healthcare

Profit: $14.4 billion
CEO: $26,339,215 a year ($12,663/hr)

Cigna

Profit: $3.4 billion
CEO: $23,251,096 a year ($11,178/hr)

Centene

Profit: $3.3 billion
CEO: $20,602,148 a year ($9,904/hr)

Elevance

Profit: $5.9 billion
CEO: $20,471,976 a year ($9,842/hr)

These companies are making billions while denying care. Their CEOs make more per hour than many families make per year.

So the next time a politician funded by these companies asks why a family of four “can’t afford healthcare,” remember:They’re making decisions inside a system designed to squeeze every dollar out of sickness.

The system is working exactly as intended; just not for us.

What I Will Fight For

Healthcare should be affordable, humane, and transparent.Not a maze of denials. Not a profit center for billion-dollar corporations.Not a financial crisis every time a kid gets sick.

When I’m elected to represent Tennessee’s 6th District, I will work to:

Strengthen Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA protections, not dismantle them
End profit-driven claim denials
Expand access to primary and preventive care
Increase transparency in insurer spending and CEO compensation
Move toward a system where healthcare is treated as a right—not a commodity