The price of health How the COVID pandemic shifted American health care

Hanna Asmerom, Web Editor and Anjy Fadairo, Staff Writer

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, COVID-19 ended the largest American economic expansion on record.

Kristin Blevins, Hockaday AP Economics teacher, said the economy pre-COVID was in good shape and had a relatively low unemployment rate.

“We certainly had been seeing a lot of growth in GDP,” Blevins said. “We’d be on this upward trajectory since the Great Recession in 2008.”

However, even during this time of American economic prosperity, healthcare access was difficult to come by for numerous Americans. Prior to the COVID pandemic, health care access in America was one of the most expensive in the world.

In 2019, healthcare insurance premiums were estimated to cost $7,188 per year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. While in 2019, the average annual cost of Norwegian healthcare was around $280 per person.

A 2016 report by the Commonwealth Fund said 33% of American adults failed to receive necessary treatment due to costs.

The COVID pandemic caused a steep drop in economic output, too, according to the Brookings Institute.

Accompanied by inflation and unemployment, by June 2020 the cost of health care quickly exceeded the pre-pandemic cost for many individuals and families, according to JP Morgan Chase.

Because of troubles finding support in the medical industry as well as troubles with receiving necessary care, many have sought alternatives to the traditional healthcare industry such as distributed care and boutique care.