(From left to right) Carrie Cochran-McClain, Chief Policy Officer at National Rural Health Association; Dr. Adam Myers, Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Transformation Officer; Stacey D. Stewart, President and CEO of March of Dimes

The U.S. health care system has become too complicated, expensive and inaccessible for many Americans. Despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which pushed the percentage of the U.S. population with access to and enrollment in either private or public sector health insurance to more than 91 percent, affordability remains a crucial barrier to accessing care. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, per capita health spending increased about six-fold in the last half-century, from $1,848 in 1970 to $11,582 in 2019 (adjusted for inflation).

This cost is economically unfeasible for everyone — whether insured, uninsured or underinsured. Without access to quality health care at an affordable price, taxpayers pick up the tab for the cost while individuals and communities pay by way of poor health outcomes. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that half of U.S. adults […]

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