An already broken system

The U.S. health care system has always been a system of exclusion. As a medical student on the West side of Chicago, I see disparities in access every day. Rising health care costs disproportionately burden our sickest patients while preventing uninsured, poor and minority communities from seeking care.

Healthcare injustice contributes to poor health outcomes in the best of times, and it's made me question becoming a doctor. Now, these inequities have created the perfect storm for the spread of a pandemic.

The lack of free COVID-19 testing throughout the initial weeks of this crisis undoubtedly contributed to undiagnosed cases, but that's exactly how our system is designed to work. Without universal coverage, we cannot achieve universal prevention and containment.

While I commend CDC Director, Robert Redfield, for his recent public statement affirming the CDC would cover the costs of COVID-19 testing going forward, I am far from convinced the poor and working-class won't continue to be excluded from care. As I watch hospitals prepare for bed shortages, I wonder, will our limited resources be justly allocated?

Our country's response going forward may shape the future of American health care. As a student, I'm still trying to find my role in a system that values profits over patients. If we continue down the path of exclusion, I worry we may face unfathomable losses.

Matthew Downing

Elgin