Fewer and fewer Americans can afford healthcare and the situation has reached a “crisis point,” according to an urgent warning from the American Heart Association.
And with total healthcare spending expected to account for 20 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product over the coming decade, people could feel even more financial pain, medical experts cautioned Thursday.
Total healthcare spending by U.S. adults currently sits at $5 trillion annually, driven largely by chronic disease, the association’s advisory said.
The average person contributed over $15,000 for insurance, hospital visits, medications and other care, according to the latest data from 2024. That hefty sum exceeded the previous year’s costs by around $1,000 and contributed to the first upswing in America’s uninsured population since 2019.
Rising costs often mean that people will forgo initial care, increasing the likelihood for more serious problems and therefore greater costs down the road.
The American Heart Association, which represents for 33,000 cardiologists and other specialists, also warned that costs related to cardiovascular disease are projected to quadruple by 2050. Cardiovascular treatment cost nearly $400 billion in the U.S., according to a 2024 study, but could reach up to $1.49 trillion by midcentury.
“Healthcare affordability is one of the defining challenges of our time,” Dr. Dhruv Kazi, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement shared alongside the new advisory.
The American Heart Association identified some causes behind people’s rising healthcare costs as complex administration at facilities, and a lack of investment in prevention and public health across the U.S. The doctors called on lawmakers and the healthcare industry to address the crisis.
The American Heart Association also called for getting rid of, or minimizing, out-of-pocket charges which have ballooned to an average $800 per person each year, the health system-tracking Peterson-KFF Health System reported.
Strategic investments in public health infrastructure and workforce, as well as shared industry accountability, are also crucial, the association said. The U.S. has a decade-long shortage of healthcare workers due to burnout, a rise in chronic conditions and a slow system unable to meet rising demand.
“Affordability is not just an economic issue – it is a health issue that directly affects lives,” Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, said.
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