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Deductibles. Preferred providers. Non-preferred providers. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Fixed payment. Co-insurance. Benefit advisers. Coverage agents. Medical advisors. Affordable Care Act. HMO. Preferred Provider Organization. EPO. Point of Service. HDHP. Health Savings Account. FSA. Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Explanation of Benefits. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. SHOP. Single coverage. Dependent coverage. Insurance subsidies.

Confused? You should be. Who comprehends this complex system? Not the typical entrepreneur. Nor the typical employee. Selecting the appropriate medical coverage for companies – or for households – appears to require it requires a PhD in medical insurance.

Our Medical System Isn't Just Complex, It's Expensive

According to recent research, typical households pays $twenty-seven thousand annually on medical coverage (increasing by 6% from last year). Typical company healthcare expense is expected to exceed $seventeen thousand for each worker by 2026, a 9.5% jump compared to 2025.

Currently the government is shut down due to partisan disputes regarding tax credits that experts say could cause a doubling of premiums for numerous US citizens.

When Might We Seriously Consider National Health Insurance?

When will we genuinely evaluate a national health insurance program in the United States? I'm convinced we're approaching that point because this situation is unsustainable.

I'm not suggesting national healthcare. I'm advocating for our current Medicare program – an established insurance framework – merely extend to include all citizens. Our infrastructure remains intact. The way our healthcare providers receive payment changes. Trust me, they'll adapt.

The Way National Health Insurance Could Function

Universal healthcare coverage would need payments from employees and employers. In similar programs, a worker earning average wages pays approximately five point three percent toward medical coverage. Their employer pays about thirteen point seventy-five percent.

Does this seem expensive? Not if you compare it to what the typical US resident spends. I can name multiple businesses that are easily contributing between eight to fifteen percent of their employee wages for medical benefits. Remember that in comprehensive systems, those payments include retirement benefits, illness coverage, parental benefits and job loss protection along with funding healthcare facilities. When you add these expenses compared with what we pay on retirement programs, unemployment insurance and vacation benefits, the gap narrows.

Implementation for America

For America, a national health premium would increase our Medicare tax deduction, a system that is already in place. It should be means-based – wealthier individuals would pay more than those earning less. There would be both worker and employer contribution. And, like much of our government's military, technology, welfare services and transportation services, the program could be managed to third-party administrators rather than federal agencies.

Advantages for Entrepreneurs

Universal healthcare coverage represents a huge benefit for entrepreneurs like mine. It would put us on a level playing field with our larger competitors who can afford better plans. It would make management significantly simpler (automatic payroll withholding remitted like retirement and healthcare taxes, rather than separate payments to insurance companies and coverage administrators).

It would make it easier for us to budget our yearly costs, instead of enduring the complex (and ineffective) theater of negotiating with major insurers that we must do every year. Because it's simplified, there would be improved comprehension about benefits by our employees – contrasted with the current system where they have to decipher the complications of existing plans. Additionally there would certainly be less liability for companies as we no longer would be privy to our employees' health histories for purposes of weighing risks and different options.

Capitalist Perspective

I'm as capitalist as possible. But I've learned that government play important functions in society, including national security to supporting needed infrastructure. Ensuring medical coverage for everyone via universal healthcare enhances our economy's infrastructure. It represents superior, easier system for small businesses which hire the majority of the country's workers and generate half the economic output. It makes it possible employees to be healthier, come to work more often and be more productive.

Addressing Concerns

Are there numerous factors I'm not addressing? Of course there are. But with rising medical expenses experienced in recent years, it's clear that the Affordable Care Act is not working very well. And I realize that we're not a small, Scandinavian country where big changes are easier to implement. However extending Medicare for all, despite increased taxation required, would remain a superior and less expensive strategy both for managing medical expenses but providing access to everyone.

Time for Honest Assessment

We as Americans, we need to reduce our own arrogance. Our healthcare system isn't so great. The US places significantly behind numerous nations in healthcare quality in the world, according to comprehensive research. Perhaps a positive aspect amid current situation could be that we take a hard look at ourselves and agree that major reforms need to happen.