Jaden Vassallo shares why he believes healthcare is too expensive.
My last visit to urgent care showed me that our healthcare system is more of a business than an actual health-providing service. I waited two hours for a fifteen-minute consultation, a quick prescription and a $450 bill.
My family has insurance, yet we still paid that out of pocket. While my emergency wasn’t life-threatening, for many Americans it could be. That experience revealed how broken the system truly is. We pay for a system that promises care but delivers stress and debt. I’m not saying we don’t receive help — but it comes with a price tag that makes you question how “sick” or “hurt” you really are. I fear a future where one accident could ruin me financially. My parents already stress enough about the monthly payments, and it’s scary to worry about whether or not we can afford care when we need it.
Nearly 30 percent of Americans report avoiding medical care due to cost, even when they know they need it. This isn’t just inconvenient—it can be life-threatening. We should be able to walk into a doctor’s office without financial fear lingering in the back of our minds. Everyone deserves affordable healthcare. What’s worse is how normalized this has
become in our society. Memes and jokes online about avoiding doctors aren’t just dark humor—they’re coping mechanisms for a generation living with chronic financial stress. We’ve accepted a broken system instead of demanding a better one.
And while we laugh, countless people are skipping needed care, letting preventable conditions worsen because they can’t afford help. Normalizing this struggle hides the urgency of the problem. It’s ironic that one of the richest countries in the world has families launching GoFundMe campaigns to cover medical bills. We call ourselves “developed,” yet access to basic healthcare feels like a luxury.