It seems that Congress is unable to fix health care, having promised to do so following the the 2016 General Election. According to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, the U.S. spent $3.2 trillion on health care in 2016. That’s $10,035 per person — an amount that is breaking the bank for individuals, businesses and government entities alike.

We need to look no further than the current teachers’ strike in West Virginia to witness the frustration and negative impact of higher health care costs — a reality that every employee in the private sector has endured year after year for the past decade.

“Obamacare” promised us lower health care costs and pledged that if we liked our current health care plan, we could keep it.

Sadly, just the opposite has been true. Annual premium increases of 25 percent or greater have become the norm, despite lower utilization rates. Higher rates are coupled with reduced coverage and greater deductibles and co-pays.

It turns out that it is possible to lower costs and improve care, but it will require change in how we manage health care for everyone.

The answer — according to an article in August 2017 issue of The Economist — involves implementing “universal coverage,” which is a combination of public and private insurance that requires 100 percent participation in the public portion while preserving private insurance benefits.

We are already paying for the health care of others. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the cost of “uncompensated” health care in America in 2016 was $84.9 billion, of which state and federal governments paid $52.6 billion, leaving $32.3 billion unpaid.

To cover the unpaid bills, providers and payers shift the costs to those who have private insurance.

The amount of unpaid costs is minute compared to the amount we pay in taxes to fund Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs. That number is $1.664 trillion, and those programs cover 112 million people.

Simply put, sick people cost money, and, eventually, everyone will pay — whether we count the cost or hide it in higher fees paid for by others. Heck, we’re already 70 percent of the way there, based on the total spent on government health care and $400 billion in tax breaks for companies that provide private insurance to their employees.

We could pay for our universal health care system using just the money we spend today.

Of the $3.2 trillion spent on health care in 2015, Medicaid, Medicare, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense and the Children’s Health Insurance Program paid $1,312 trillion; private insurance paid $778 billion; consumers paid $352 billion out of pocket; third-party party programs paid $256 billion; money from investments covered $160 billion; and other government spending covered $96 billion.

We need to lower the cost of care while not reducing the quality. We have $2.176 trillion available, but we spend roughly $3.2 trillion a year, so we need to lower our costs.

In summary, our health care is more expensive due to higher physician costs, overpayment for services, unnecessary tests, excess medical equipment, long hospital stays, high administrative costs and a tort system that is need of an overhaul.

We can lower health care costs and improve quality of care. We must get the cost of health care to a much more affordable level.