Physician shortage and private equity: the ruin of U.S. health care (KevinMD)

This editorial delivers a stark, first-person indictment of the modern U.S. health care system, arguing that physician shortages, corporate consolidation, and private equity have collectively eroded access, quality, and trust in medical care. Dr. John C. Hagan III contends that U.S. health care no longer functions as a coherent system at all. Despite consuming nearly $5 trillion annually, it routinely fails patients through long wait times, inaccessible physicians, excessive bureaucracy, and misaligned financial incentives. While once viewed as the world’s best, U.S. health care now excels primarily at generating profits for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, administrators, trial lawyers, and fraudsters—rather than delivering timely, compassionate care.