Abstract:
The fragmented and inefficient healthcare system in the United States leads to many
preventable deaths and unnecessary costs every year. Universal healthcare could have
alleviated the mortality caused by a confluence of negative COVID-related factors.
Incorporating the demography of the uninsured with age-specific COVID-19 and
nonpandemic mortality, we estimated that a single-payer universal healthcare system
would have saved 212,000 lives in 2020 alone. We also calculated that US$105.6 billion of
medical expenses associated with COVID-19 hospitalization could have been averted by a
Medicare for All system.
