A new study reveals that the US cancer death rate has dropped 27 percent since 1991. This is fantastic news: the nation’s number-two cause of death is getting less deadly by the year.

For some people, that is. At the same time, the gap in cancer mortality between the rich and the poor is actually widening. The concurrence of these trends can mean only one thing: we’re making breakthroughs in medicine, but our deeply unequal system means that not everyone is benefiting from them.

It’s a cruel society that makes “revolutionary advances” in detecting, preventing, and treating life-threatening illnesses, and then offers only the rich an opportunity to attain them. A baseline of economic inequality compounded by a parasitic private insurance industry has yielded a situation in which the wealthy are hoarding the spoils of medical and technological innovation. To ensure that everyone can reap the rewards of our collective social progress, we need a more equal medical system and a more equal economy. We can start by implementing Medicare for All.