Blog- Why Is The U.S. Healthcare System Still Broken & How Do We Start Fixing It?

Jul 29, 2013 11:40 AM ET
Campaign: Collective Impact

Why Is The U.S. Healthcare System Still Broken & How Do We Start Fixing It?

Spoiler alert: the U.S. healthcare system is horribly broken.  Okay, maybe that doesn’t actually come as much of a shock to anyone who has read a newspaper headline in America in the past fifteen years. But, if we have known this for years, why does the system continue to be at best dysfunctional?  Governments, foundations, companies, and countless individuals put billions of dollars into America’s healthcare system each year.  According to Giving USA Foundation, in 2010, Americans gave over $22B to healthcare organizations and this doesn’t count donations that filter through other organizations such as religious institutions first and this does not count government spending.  From nurses and doctors all the way up to the president of the United States, there are millions of people who are committed to creating a better healthcare system in America.  Yet, even with all these resources, healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, quality of care is inconsistent at best, and disparities among rich and poor persist.  Why?

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Learn more about FSG's Collective Impact approach and work in US healthcare.