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Out-of-pocket costs. Preferred providers. Non-preferred providers. Concierge medical services. Personal healthcare costs. Co-payment. Shared insurance. Benefit advisers. Coverage agents. Medical advisors. Affordable Care Act. Health Maintenance Organization. Preferred Provider Organization. EPO. POS. High Deductible Health Plan. HSA. FSA. Health Reimbursement Arrangement. EOB. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. SHOP. Individual coverage. Dependent coverage. Insurance subsidies.

Baffled? You should be. Who understands all this stuff? Not the typical entrepreneur. Nor the typical worker. Selecting the right medical coverage for our business – or for households – appears to require demands advanced expertise in medical insurance.

Our Medical System Is More Than Complicated, It's Costly

According to recent research, typical households spends $twenty-seven thousand each year on medical coverage (up 6% from last year). The average employer health insurance cost is expected to exceed $seventeen thousand per employee by 2026, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2025.

Currently federal operations is shut down due to political disagreements regarding tax credits that experts say could cause premium increases up to 100% for millions of Americans.

When Will We Truly Examine National Health Insurance?

How soon might we seriously consider a national health insurance program here in America? I'm convinced we're approaching that point since this situation is unsustainable.

I'm not suggesting national healthcare. I'm advocating for our current Medicare program – an insurance system – merely extend to include all citizens. The existing system doesn't change. The way our healthcare providers get paid would change. Believe me, they'll adapt.

How National Health Insurance Would Work

Universal healthcare coverage would require payments from both employees and employers. In comparable systems, an employee earning moderate income pays approximately 5.3% to their healthcare. Their employer pays about 13.75%.

Does this appear expensive? Unless you compare it to what the typical American pays. I know multiple businesses who are easily contributing between 8% to 15% of their employee wages for medical benefits. And keep in mind that in comprehensive systems, those payments include retirement benefits, sick pay, maternity leave and job loss protection along with funding healthcare facilities. When you add these expenses versus what we pay for our retirement plans, unemployment insurance and paid time off, the difference decreases.

Implementation for America

For America, universal healthcare funding would increase existing Medicare taxes, a framework already established. It ought to be income-adjusted – wealthier individuals would pay more than lower-income earners. There would be both an employee and employer contribution. Similar to many federal defense, IT, social programs and infrastructure, the system should be outsourced to third-party administrators instead of a government office.

Benefits for Entrepreneurs

A national health insurance program would be a significant advantage for small businesses like mine. It would place us on a level playing field against big corporations that can pay for superior coverage. It would render administration significantly simpler (automatic payroll withholding processed similarly to retirement and Medicare taxes, rather than separate payments to insurance companies and coverage administrators).

It would enable it easier to plan expenses annual expenditures, instead of going through the complicated (and ineffective) process of bargaining with the big insurance providers that we must do each year. Because it's simplified, there would exist improved comprehension about benefits by our employees – as opposed to the current system which require them to interpret the complexities of current options. And there would definitely exist reduced responsibility for companies since we wouldn't would be privy to our employees' medical records for weighing risks and different options.

Capitalist Perspective

I'm as pro-market as they get. However I recognize that government has a significant role in society, from providing defense to funding needed infrastructure. Ensuring medical coverage for everyone via universal healthcare strengthens economic foundations. It represents superior, simpler approach for entrepreneurs that employ more than half of American employees and generate half the economic output. It makes it possible employees to enjoy better health, come to work more often and increase productivity.

Addressing Concerns

Exist numerous factors I haven't covered? Certainly. Given all the healthcare cost increases we've seen recently, it's evident that current healthcare legislation is not working very well. And I realize that we're not a compact European nation where big changes can be readily adopted. However extending universal Medicare, despite increased taxation required, would still be a better and less expensive strategy for not only managing medical expenses and ensuring coverage to everyone.

Time for Honest Assessment

We as Americans, must reduce our own arrogance. America's medical care isn't so great. We rank significantly behind many other countries with the best healthcare globally, according to comprehensive research. Perhaps a bright spot amid current situation is that we take serious examination at ourselves and agree that big changes are necessary.