[_jahh]

this is completely missing the point, people don't take chronic or slow-developing issues to the ER so they get worse and have catastrophic consequences resulting in both worse health outcomes and more expense because by the time they do come to ER it's a more serious intervention = $$$$

[bumby]

I addressed that in a different comment (I think we submitted comments at roughly the same time).

I completely agree that preventative healthcare is lacking, partly due to the system and partly due to culture. If the OP had originally said "preventative healthcare" I wouldn't have much to disagree on, but they used a blanket statement implying only the wealthy have access to healthcare in general.

The US also gives free preventative healthcare to many subsets of the population