Politicians Protect the Unaccountable

Both parties shield hospitals, pharma, and insurers from transparency and reform—
because the unaccountable fund their campaigns

Democratic Solutions

  • The ACA expanded coverage but didn't address underlying cost drivers
  • Public option proposals still rely on the same inflated pricing structures
  • Medicare expansion plans don't fix Medicare's own inefficiencies
  • Price controls create shortages without addressing systemic waste
  • Insurance mandates force people to buy overpriced products

Republican Solutions

  • "Free market" rhetoric ignores that healthcare isn't a free market
  • HSAs and high deductibles shift costs to sick people who can't afford them
  • Across-state-lines competition didn't work when tried
  • Tort reform would save less than 1% of total healthcare spending
  • Deregulation proposals protect insurance companies, not patients

Both parties protect industries that operate without accountability. Pharmaceutical companies, insurance giants, and hospital networks donate millions to both sides. Real reform requires transparency and accountability—which threatens the trillion-dollar industries funding both parties.

Money & Politics

The Money Behind the Failure

$700M
Spent annually by pharmaceutical and health product industries on federal lobbying
$200M
Spent by insurance industry on federal lobbying annually
$150M
Spent by hospitals and nursing homes on federal lobbying annually
3:1
Ratio of health industry lobbyists to members of Congress
"Healthcare special interests spend over $1 billion annually lobbying Congress. That's more than the defense and aerospace industries combined."

Politicians Are Unaccountable Too

No current major party proposal demands transparency or accountability from healthcare providers. Why? Because doing so would require taking on the unaccountable industries that fund their campaigns. Both parties choose campaign cash over patient protection.

Accountability Threatens Profits

Pharmaceutical Companies: Price transparency and negotiation would expose that they charge Americans 2-10 times what other countries pay. Real accountability means publishing actual drug costs and justifying prices—which would destroy their $41 billion in annual U.S. profits.

Insurance Companies: Accountability means explaining every claim denial, publishing approval rates, and justifying the billions in profits extracted while adding zero clinical value. The entire industry depends on operating without transparency.

Hospital Systems: Price transparency—telling patients actual costs before treatment—would expose the massive markup on basic supplies and services. Regional monopolies can only overcharge when patients can't see or compare prices.

Medical Device Manufacturers: Accountability means publishing what they charge hospitals versus what hospitals charge patients. The same stent costs $8,000 in Germany because prices are transparent and negotiable—in America, opacity allows $40,000 charges.

Democrats Won't Demand Accountability

They won't require hospitals to publish binding prices before treatment. They won't force insurance companies to justify claim denials publicly. They won't break up hospital monopolies. They won't make pharmaceutical companies explain why Americans pay 10x what Canadians pay. They protect the unaccountable.

Republicans Won't Demand Accountability

They won't allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices transparently. They won't enforce antitrust laws against hospital mergers. They won't require insurance companies to publish approval rates. They won't mandate price transparency. They claim to support "market forces" while protecting industries that operate without accountability.

Protecting the Unaccountable

Every healthcare reform proposal from either party includes loopholes that prevent accountability. The ACA required coverage but didn't require hospitals to disclose prices. Republican plans deregulate without demanding transparency. Neither party will make hospitals, pharma, or insurers operate in the open—because the unaccountable own them.