The U.S. has what we call a hybrid health care system. Almost 60% of our system is funded by private
businesses and organizations, 30% is government funded, and around 10% or 28 million people do not have
any health insurance at all.
Here are some things to keep in mind….
Approximately half of Americans get their health care from a private employer. The rest of the "private" health
insurance is purchased mostly by individuals who are not getting it anywhere else.
Medicare is the federal health insurance program for more than 60 million people ages 65 and over and
younger people with long-term disabilities. Approximately 15% of our annual finding goes to Medicare.
Medicaid is a health care program run jointly by the federal AND state governments. In Tennessee we call it
TennCare, but it is Medicaid. Medicaid covers another 60 million people in the U.S. including eligible low-
Before the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) went into full implementation between 2010-2014, the
uninsured rate in the U.S. hovered around 17%. In 2019 (latest data), the uninsured rate was around 9% (an
increase from 7.9% in 2017) and included around 28 million people. The Affordable Care Act has allowed
many disadvantaged groups, such as lower income adults and racial and ethnic minorities, to have more
affordable access to health care. However, even with this “statistical success,” many still consider this program
a failure, particularly as premiums have increased in the for-profit marketplace and as many opt out of heath
care coverage completely. After all, we still have 10% of the population without health insurance which impacts
hospital and clinic funding. In addition, many states, including Tennessee, did not expand their health care
coverage under the ACA leaving many still uninsured in the state. Health care costs remain very high in the
U.S. while the American population is ranked one of the least healthy in the world.
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