🔗 Share this article

Deductibles. Preferred providers. Non-preferred providers. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Fixed payment. Shared insurance. Benefit advisers. Insurance brokers. Healthcare consultants. ACA. HMO. PPO. Exclusive Provider Organization. Point of Service. HDHP. Health Savings Account. Flexible Spending Account. HRA. EOB. COBRA. SHOP. Individual coverage. Family coverage. Premium tax credits.

Baffled? It's understandable. Who understands this complex system? Not the typical business owner. Nor the typical employee. Selecting the right medical coverage for our business – or for households – seems like demands a PhD in healthcare.

The Healthcare System Isn't Just Complicated, It Is Expensive

Based on recent research, the average family spends $27,000 annually on medical coverage (increasing by 6% compared to last year). Typical employer health insurance cost is expected to surpass $seventeen thousand for each worker by 2026, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2025.

Currently the government is shut down due to partisan disputes regarding subsidies that experts say could cause premium increases up to 100% for numerous US citizens.

When Will We Truly Examine Universal Healthcare?

How soon might we genuinely evaluate universal healthcare coverage in the United States? I'm convinced we're getting closer because this can't continue.

I'm not proposing national healthcare. I'm advocating that our already existing Medicare system – an insurance system – simply expand to include all citizens. The existing system remains intact. The way medical professionals receive payment would change. Trust me, they'll adapt.

How National Health Insurance Would Work

Universal healthcare coverage would require contributions from employees and employers. In similar programs, an employee earning average wages pays about 5.3% to their healthcare. Their employer must contribute approximately 13.75%.

Does this appear expensive? Unless you contrast it to what average US resident spends. I know multiple clients that are easily contributing anywhere from 8% to 15% of their employee wages to their healthcare costs. Remember that in inclusive programs, these contributions also cover retirement benefits, sick pay, parental benefits and job loss protection along with funding healthcare facilities. When you add these expenses versus what we pay for our retirement plans, job loss coverage and paid time off, the gap narrows.

Execution in the US

For America, universal healthcare funding would increase our Medicare tax deduction, a system already established. It ought to be means-based – wealthier individuals would contribute higher amounts than those earning less. There would be both an employee and employer contribution. And, like many federal defense, IT, social programs and infrastructure, the system should be outsourced to third-party administrators rather than a government office.

Benefits for Small Businesses

A national health insurance program would be a huge benefit for entrepreneurs like mine. It would put us on a level playing field with our larger competitors that can pay for superior coverage. It would render administration significantly simpler (automatic payroll withholding remitted like social security and Medicare taxes, instead of individual transactions to insurance companies and coverage administrators).

It would enable it easier for us to budget annual expenditures, instead of enduring the complicated (and ineffective) theater of bargaining with major insurers required annually every year. Due to simplification, there would exist a better understanding about benefits by our employees – as opposed to existing arrangements which require them to interpret the complexities of current options. And there would definitely exist reduced responsibility for employers since we wouldn't would be privy to our employees' medical records for purposes of risk assessment and different options.

Capitalist Perspective

I'm as capitalist as possible. But I've learned that government has a significant role in society, including national security to supporting needed infrastructure. Ensuring medical coverage to all through a national insurance system enhances our economy's infrastructure. It represents superior, simpler approach for entrepreneurs which hire more than half of the country's workers and generate half of our GDP. It enables employees to be healthier, have better attendance and increase productivity.

Considering Challenges

Are there a million considerations I'm not addressing? Of course there are. Given all the healthcare cost increases we've seen recently, it's evident that the Affordable Care Act isn't functioning very well. And I realize that America isn't a compact European nation where big changes are easier to implement. However extending universal Medicare, even with increased taxation required, would still be a better and less expensive strategy both for controlling healthcare costs and ensuring coverage to everyone.

Time for Honest Assessment

We as Americans, must tone down our own arrogance. Our healthcare system isn't so great. We rank well below numerous nations in healthcare quality globally, according to comprehensive research. Perhaps a bright spot amid present circumstances is that we undertake a hard look at ourselves and acknowledge that major reforms need to happen.