By Darreonna Davis/Originally published by The 19th
Ariana Ramsey, a member of the history-making U.S. women’s rugby team, is going viral on TikTok, not for her skills on the pitch, but her newfound obsession with free health care in the Olympic Village.
For nearly a week, Ramsey has been documenting her experience taking advantage of the free health services available to athletes. The Olympic and Paralympic Village accommodates about 22,250 athletes who have access to a medical clinic at all times. According to Sports Illustrated, the Olympic Village has offered health care to athletes since the 1932 Los Angeles Games.
She first got a pap smear, then booked dental and optometry appointments. She has since deemed herself a universal health care advocate, saying free health care in America will be her “new fight for action.”
“America needs to do better with their health care system because there’s no way why me, an American girl, should be so amazed by free health care,” she said.
The United States is the only high-income country without universal health care. In 2022, spending on health care in the United States increased 4.1 percent, totaling about $4.5 trillion or $13,493 per person, according to data from the National Health Expenditure Account. That year it accounted for 17.3 percent of the national GDP.
France has one of the highest health care expenditures among European Union member states, the EU commission reported, with spending accounting for 12.3 percent of their GDP in 2021. That year, according to data from the World Health Organization, health care spending in France cost $5,380.88 per person.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans are more likely to have private health insurance coverage sponsored by their employer. France’s health insurance is publicly sponsored and financed by employer and employee payroll taxes, a national earmarked income tax and taxes on tobacco and alcohol, the pharmaceutical industry, voluntary health insurance companies and state subsidies, according to the Berkeley Public Policy Journal.
Ramsey’s team made history, bringing home the first Olympic medal for Team USA women’s rugby.
