We often talk about what the Foundation would cost. We rarely count what we're already paying — in medical debt, lost wages, preventable suffering — for the system we have.
Counters accumulate annual totals from when you opened this page. Time elapsed: 0:00
All rates are annual US figures, accumulating to their yearly total.
Medical Bankruptcy
0
Americans bankrupt from medical bills
Source: American Journal of Public Health · ~530,000/year
Insulin Rationing
0
diabetics who rationed insulin this year due to cost
Source: ADA · ~1 in 4 insulin-dependent diabetics
Housing Cost-Burden
0
eviction filings since you opened this page
Source: Eviction Lab · ~3.6 million filings/year
Child Hunger
0
children experiencing food insecurity this year
Source: Feeding America · ~13 million children/year
Mental Health Gap
0
people who needed mental health care and couldn't access it this year
Source: SAMHSA · ~27 million unmet need/year
Preventable Death
0
Americans who died from preventable, treatable conditions
Source: Commonwealth Fund · ~68,000/year vs peer nations
What we chose instead
We spent
$1.3 trillion in stock buybacks (2018–2022)
↓ instead of
Universal pre-K costs ~$80 billion/year
We spent
$35 billion on insulin profits annually
↓ that same insulin costs
$6/vial to manufacture. It sells for $300.
We paid
$150 billion/year in preventable ER costs
↓ from people who couldn't afford
Primary care visits averaging $250
We lost
$2.2 trillion/year to low literacy's economic drag
↓ while spending
~$700/student less than peer nations on education
Sources: American Journal of Public Health (medical bankruptcy) · American Diabetes Association (insulin rationing) ·
Eviction Lab at Princeton (eviction filings) · Feeding America (child hunger) · SAMHSA (mental health access) ·
Commonwealth Fund (preventable mortality) · EPI (stock buybacks) · Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
Rates are approximate annual US figures converted to per-second for display. Intended to convey scale, not precise real-time tracking.