September 3, 2020

Fact of the Day: We Pay More for Health Care Than Any Other Country in the World

On average, Americans pay about $11,000 annually for health care. That’s more than double the amount paid in France, widely considered to have one of the best health care systems in the world. This means that every year, a family of four pays about $23,000 more for health care than the same family in France.

Much of this cost is hidden in the form of Medicare taxes and payments by corporations for private health insurance. In the end, though, it all comes out of the paychecks of working Americans. It’s a hell of a tax to pay just for the privilege of being able to say that we allow health care providers to charge anything they want without government interference.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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