MCTV Network's Community Voices
Oct 2, 2026 · 30 min · 11 segments
US Common Ground is produced by Dr. Ziggy Kozicki through the facilities of the MCTV Network. In this episode Ziggy talks to Dr. Steven Berkshire about wealthcare.
The other thing is we're consistently outspending nations like Switzerland, Germany, Norway, uh, which are some of the highest spenders out there.
And what seems to be driving up the cost in healthcare is, uh, you know, the, the services for medical goods, pharmaceuticals, uh, rather than actually utilization of care.
So when we think about healthcare, w- we tend to think about the healthcare provider, about the hospital, but we don't think about all the other medical goods, including insurance companies, private equity firms, those kinds of things.
And I must add, they also have healthier people, which, you know, somebody might say, "Well, they're spending less." They're spending less and getting more out of it, which means that there's something there that we should look at.
The other thing that we look at, and I think it's important, is, uh, the US often ranks lower on key health outcomes such as life expectancy, uh, and healthcare coverage.
And compared to, uh, these, uh, lower-spending nations, they seem to be getting more out of it and, and we seem to be getting less out of it.
And I think, uh, Steven had pointed out that, uh, you know, we subsidize healthcare in this country.
We have the Affordable Care Act and the marketplace, but that was really, I think, when it was passed, seen as a bridge to something better and, and yet we're not there yet.
So Steven, what, what's your thoughts about that? Are we ever gonna get to something like Medicare for All or something where we have universal health coverage like so many other countries do?
The other thing is we're consistently outspending nations like Switzerland, Germany, Norway, uh, which are some of the highest spenders out there.
And what seems to be driving up the cost in healthcare is, uh, you know, the, the services for medical goods, pharmaceuticals, uh, rather than actually utilization of care.
So when we think about healthcare, w- we tend to think about the healthcare provider, about the hospital, but we don't think about all the other medical goods, including insurance companies, private equity firms, those kinds of things.
And I must add, they also have healthier people, which, you know, somebody might say, "Well, they're spending less." They're spending less and getting more out of it, which means that there's something there that we should look at.
The other thing that we look at, and I think it's important, is, uh, the US often ranks lower on key health outcomes such as life expectancy, uh, and healthcare coverage.
And compared to, uh, these, uh, lower-spending nations, they seem to be getting more out of it and, and we seem to be getting less out of it.
And I think, uh, Steven had pointed out that, uh, you know, we subsidize healthcare in this country.
We have the Affordable Care Act and the marketplace, but that was really, I think, when it was passed, seen as a bridge to something better and, and yet we're not there yet.
So Steven, what, what's your thoughts about that? Are we ever gonna get to something like Medicare for All or something where we have universal health coverage like so many other countries do?
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