I often read about the cost of healthcare and health insurance in the United States, but it feels distant to my life and experience in the United Kingdom, so I don’t give it much thought.
A couple days ago, though, I was in a pharmacy in Orlando and overheard a conversation between an employee and the woman in front of me in the queue.
The woman was picking up three different medicines. One was $30, the second was $45, and the third was $420. The employee asked if the woman had insurance. She didn’t. She paid for the first two, but couldn’t afford the third—despite saying she needed the medicine on a daily basis.
It then occurred to me that I’ve never seen this situation play out in the countries I’ve lived; not in New Zealand, Australia, nor the United Kingdom. I’ve grown up with my baseline assumption being that people should be able to access the medicine they need at a reasonable price. Yet the one time I’m in a pharmacy in the United States, I see someone have to walk out without the medicine they need. I was dismayed and saddened at the situation. It felt all sorts of wrong to me.
I don’t know enough about the US healthcare system to make any broader commentary on the subject, but sometimes it’s a single data point or anecdote that can serve as the most powerful of lessons.