Why U.S. healthcare is still the most expensive in the world

In announcing its “Great Healthcare Plan” in January 2026, the Trump administration became the latest in a long history of efforts by the U.S. government to rein in the soaring cost of healthcare.

As a physician and professor studying the intersection of business and health, I know that the challenges in reforming the sprawling U.S. healthcare system are immense. That’s partly for political and even philosophical reasons.

But it also reflects a complex system fraught with competing interests—and the fact that patients...