Why does health care cost so much in the United States?

The United States spends more on health care than any other country on earth. Most health care products in the U.S. cost at least twice what other countries pay, sometimes up to ten times as much. And everyday Americans are often left footing the bill, grappling with sky-high premiums and medical debt. Clare tells Teo how the forces in our health care system keep costs high, and what you can do about the (possibly giant) number at the bottom of your next medical bill. 

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Sources in this episode:

• The Insane Things Hospitals Can Charge You for When you Give Birth, Vice, 2018
• Health Care Costs and Affordability, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2025
• Health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant care, Peterson-KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) Health System Tracker, 2025
• Utah Dad Posts Hospital Bill With Nearly $40 Fee for Skin-to-Skin Contact After Son's Birth, ABC News, 2016
• As Americans Struggled, Health Insurers Made a Record-Breaking $71.3 Billion in Profits, Wendell Potter on Substack, 2025
• Health Care Debt In The U.S.: The Broad Consequences Of Medical And Dental Bills, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2022
• The Marshall Allen Project
• Cost Data from the British Columbia Ministry of Health
• Interview with Gerard Anderson, Johns Hopkins Professor of Health Policy and Management
• Trump struck deals with 16 drug companies. But they're still raising prices this year, NPR, 2026