I think American healthcare is not a priority change because the *majority* of Americans already (individually) receive the same or better healthcare than in most European/etc. countries from both a financial and quality perspective.
I mean yes everyone would be wayyyy better off financially with more efficient universal healthcare, instead of just comparable, and it would also be way more equitable. But equity doesn’t matter for most voters unfortunately, and the finances are simply not a pressing issue for most voters either in the same way daily price changes like fuel and groceries are.
Like even if the USA could save $5,000/person/year on healthcare, I think people don’t really conceptually think about theoretical gains like that when consumer purchasing power is already 2nd in the world. An extra $2K-$5K in people’s hands wouldn’t be bringing most people in the country up to a useful standard of living, it would just make the gap in spending power compared to other countries laughably wider in a way that probably seems impossible.
So it is basically a tyranny of the majority situation for the people who do actually lack access to care. Healthcare is not really a big motivator for people to go out and vote 🙃
@jonah
depends. insurance coverage for certain ailments is lacking and they tend to not care if something kills you, as long as it costs them less. profit motives need to take a back seat to basic humanity. the tallest buildings in most cities are owned by greedy insurance companies.