Americans Are Mad As Hell About Healthcare Costs. What’s Actually Standing In the Way of Lower Bills?

Americans are mad as hell about healthcare costs. Premiums, deductibles, copays, prescription drugs, medical debt—the bills keep piling up, and voters are demanding relief. Politicians are offering big promises, from Medicare for All to restoring Medicaid and ACA subsidies to cracking down on fraud and waste. But how much of that would actually lower what Americans pay for healthcare—and how soon? Do we need sweeping political reforms, or are there practical ways to bring down patients' bills right now? And could the way we keep debating healthcare actually be protecting the status quo? We're joined by Cornell University's Jamila Michener, Rice University's Vivian Ho, and KFF's Liz Hamel to unpack what makes healthcare so expensive, who bears the burden, and what it would actually take to make it more affordable.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Jamila Michener is a professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University and director of its Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures. Her research examines poverty, racial inequality, healthcare policy, and political power. She is the author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics.

Vivian Ho is a health economist and the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics at Rice University, where she is also a professor of economics. Her research focuses on healthcare costs, hospital pricing, market competition, and how economic incentives shape the quality and affordability of care. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Liz Hamel is senior vice president and director of Public Opinion and Survey Research at KFF, where she oversees the organization's national polling on healthcare. With 25 years of experience in public opinion research, she studies Americans' experiences with the healthcare system, their concerns about affordability, and their views on healthcare policy.

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