Steve Cortes, President of the League of American Workers, said on the Health Policy Podcast that the U.S. needs a prevention-driven Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda because Americans are getting sicker despite record spending.
Cortes said that despite being one of the wealthiest nations, America faces significant health challenges.
“Unfortunately it’s necessary because America is chronically ill. That’s just the reality. We’re the richest country in the world, and we’re the sickest country in the world,” said Cortes. “Generally the wealthy you are, the healthier you are. That is not the case right now in the world. It’s certainly not the case regarding the United States. Half of US kids right now have chronic health issues, just a few decades ago, that number was 1%. Now it’s 50% and 40% of young people are pre-diabetic. Life expectancy in the United States has been trending down for several years. Life expectancy in the US just hit a 20 year low.”
The Commonwealth Fund’s Mirror, Mirror 2024 report shows that the U.S. trails nine other high-income countries in overall health system performance—including access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes—despite spending more than 16% of its GDP on health care. The report projects that spending could exceed 20% by 2035 without delivering better health results.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. life expectancy dropped to 76.4 years in 2021—the lowest since the mid-1990s—before rebounding slightly to 77.5 years in 2022. The decline and partial recovery reflect ongoing public health challenges such as COVID-19 and drug overdoses.
A CDC study summarized by the American Diabetes Association found that prediabetes among U.S. adolescents aged 12–19 increased from 12% between 1999–2002 to 28% between 2015–2018, highlighting growing risks for young people and underscoring calls for early prevention.
Cortes is a political commentator and former financial strategist who worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns and founded the League of American Workers to advocate for economic policies benefiting U.S. citizens.
