According to CNN, millions of Americans who received Medicaid benefits through a pandemic-era measure will face losing their federally funded health insurance in the coming months. This is a bad news for people who are at risk; losing Medicaid benefits means they will have to buy expensive commercial insurance, or find a way to pay for their own healthcare if they get sick. And healthcare in the United States is notoriously expensive.

In February 2023, the World Economic Forum released statistics showing that "healthcare spending is significantly higher in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world." According to a survey by Gallup in December 2022, nearly 40 percent of American adults have experienced difficulties in paying healthcare bills and accessing affordable and quality medical services, and most of them consider medical expenses a source of daily stress. CGTN stringer talked to three Americans who are in different medical difficulties. All three agreed to the view that "seeing a doctor is so expensive that I can't afford to get sick" in the United States. "I just hope I never get to the point where I have to go to a hospital because it's really expensive."