You think you broke a bone? It’ll cost about 400 dollars to just take a look. Health is a huge problem in America, not just with food but also with medicare. The economy struggles with our healthcare, so how can it be fixed? Answers could help a nation’s struggles as well as people's personal struggles with paying the bills. 

To get a medical procedure to fix an overbite, it would cost about 26,000 dollars out of pocket down payment. Insurance can cover bits here and there, but in most cases requires a large down payment. Even to get those bits covered it will cost about 5,280 dollars for one person a year. Medical insurance cost about 440 dollars a month for one person, and 1,168 dollars per month for family coverage. 

In countries like France 75% of doctors provide free care to patients, with the cost being reimbursed by the government. France is also said to have the best healthcare system in the world. Many countries in Europe, including France, have the universal health care. Universal healthcare is a system that provides care to all citizens regardless of their social standing or ability to pay. France spends about 11 percent of GDP on health expenses compared to America’s 18 percent.

America’s problems with obesity and other eating disorders are even worse. Obesity is even more prominent than being overweight since there are more US adults obese then just overweight. Studies have shown that roughly 32.2 percent of men in the US are obese, and 35.5 percent for women. America is the most obese country in North America, having 36.2 percent of citizens  being obese. Compared to the 1950s, a normal American adult weighs about 26 pounds more. About 13 million children and 78 million adults struggle with the mental and physical effects and problems of obesity.

Along with obesity the US also struggles with diabetes. 30.3 million Americans have diabetes, that is the equivalent to 9.4 percent of the population of Americans have diabetes. Another 84.1 million have prediabetes, which if not treated will lead to diabetes. Other than just physical diseases, mental disorders are also a big issue. Anxiety is the most common mental illness, affecting 40 million people every year. As anxiety is very treatable, only about one third reach out treatment.  Depression is also very big in America. Adolescents (ages 12-17) depression cases have increased 63 percent compared to 2013. Teen mental health struggles are on the rise with anxiety occurring in 32 percent of teens, and depression occurring in 13 percent in adolescents. 

These issues are a big deal. America is struggling with physical and mental illnesses and how to cover the cost of them. As a teen in America, seeing the problems with teen mental health is horrifying. With a large amount of adolescents having mental illnesses, most people in my school could have them and even they could be unaware. The issues of obesity is very prominent too, since over one-third of Americans are obese I see the problems everywhere. Many members of my family work in the medical department also, and have seen many struggling patients while they, doctors, benefit. I see these issues all the time and I think there are many ways our government and health system can fix it, and they need too.