That's neither my cynicism nor hyperbole. It comes from a column or article by Kat Eschner that Popular Science dropped into my inbox yesterday: The American healthcare system is only making COVID-19 worse “We don’t really have a system.”. It's pretty short and you can read it here: https://www.popsci.com/story/science/healthcare-paid-sick-leave-coronavi... Some highlights:

Researchers say that the American healthcare system could make the outbreak much worse. In fact, “We don’t really have a system,” says Lynn Blewett, a professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota who studies access to care. The term “system” implies a unified plan, she says, and the patchwork of public and private care providers and millions of uninsured people that currently characterize American medicine isn’t that.

Speaking about the lack of nationwide sick leave requirements, the author notes that:

And it’s part of a broader picture of lax health-related national policy, says Nicolas Ziebarth, a Cornell University professor of policy analysis and Management. Ziebarth is the author of several studies on paid sick leave that confirm White’s findings. In two recent papers, he says, “we find clear evidence… that infection rates decrease significantly when cities and states pass these mandates.”

The United States is at greater risk than other industrialized countries from the COVID-19 outbreak, he says. Why? “We have a really bad social safety network.” Things like universal access to healthcare and paid sick leave mandates are just two of the things that could improve it, he says.

The really bad news, per the author and Ms. Blewett, is that things are unlikely to change despite what should be a wake up call. That has be be the understatement of the year; Joe Biden is the insurance companies' insurance against the institution of anything resembling a real healthcare system and the bosses protection against any sort of sick leave legislation and you know that Trump sure isn't going to do anything that might improve things either.

Give it a read, it's worth it.