America’s Real Health Crisis? Inequality— and a Generation Pays
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
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Professor Steven Woolf, a public health researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, warns that the US healthcare system's failures, including rising costs and environmental hazards, are affecting all Americans, regardless of wealth, with the rich dying earlier than their counterparts in other countries.
The current administration's policies could exacerbate the health crisis, with Woolf noting that the consequences for a whole generation could be similar to those of historical famines, such as those in 20th-century Russia, emphasizing the need for economic solutions like better wages and fairer policies.
According to Woolf, the mental health crisis in America, particularly among adolescents, is a pressing concern, with the systemic problems of inequality and lack of access to basic needs and healthcare contributing to declining longevity outcomes, as highlighted in his research and interview with the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
