Health Insurance: It's as Clear as Mud
The United States health insurance structure is about as clear as mud. Through terminology that may seem foreign, all the way to how to obtain health insurance in the first place, the system is a huge cloud of smoke that is hard to navigate. In the television show Breaking Bad, Walter White has to face the harsh reality of this navigation head on. In the “Pilot” episode of Breaking Bad, Walter White is diagnosed with stage three lung cancer. Throughout the show we see Walter navigate this barbaric system while trying to obtain his treatment.
The United States health insurance system has some key terminology that we need to understand. Everyone who has health insurance pays a premium. A premium is a monthly payment that ensures your insurance. These premiums average $590 per month. In the United States, most employers cover a portion of this monthly premium for their employee’s health insurance, leaving the employee to pay an average of $114 a month for single coverage. The reason people pay these premiums is so that when they need to go to the doctor, dentist, optometrist, or fill prescriptions, they do not have to pay the full visit or prescription amount. Instead, they pay a deductible which is a portion of the cost. For example, if the employee has a surgical procedure that costs a total of $10,000 and their deductible for that service is $1,000, the employee will pay the first $1,000 and the insurance will cover the remaining $9,000 (Masterson, 2025).
The problem in this lies with people who have employers that will not pay for health insurance leaving them with a huge monthly payment. These people will either choose to be uninsured or pay a lower premium to be insured but have a higher deductible. Walter White was insured through his employer but it was not a good healthcare plan. This essentially led Walter to pay a lower premium but a higher deductible. When Walter eventually did have to go to the doctor for his cancer treatment, he had to pay $5000 per visit. This is a phenomenal highlight of how the American healthcare system leaves people behind. Despite being insured, Walter had to resort to making and selling meth to cover the cost of his treatment. This is a common occurrence for so many Americans. Despite being insured they find themselves unable to pay for the treatment they need. This causes so many people to resort to selling of their possessions, turning to illegal activities to pay for treatment, or even choosing not to receive treatment at all despite paying into their insurance.
