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Deductibles. Preferred providers. Non-preferred providers. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Co-payment. Shared insurance. Benefit advisers. Insurance brokers. Medical advisors. Affordable Care Act. HMO. PPO. Exclusive Provider Organization. Point of Service. High Deductible Health Plan. Health Savings Account. FSA. HRA. Explanation of Benefits. COBRA. SHOP. Single coverage. Family coverage. Insurance subsidies.

Confused? It's understandable. Who comprehends this complex system? Certainly not the average business owner. Nor the typical employee. Selecting the right healthcare insurance for our business – or for households – appears to require it requires a PhD in healthcare.

Our Healthcare System Is More Than Complex, It's Costly

Based on recent research, the average family pays $27,000 each year for their health insurance (increasing by 6% from last year). Typical employer health insurance cost is projected to surpass $seventeen thousand for each worker by 2026, a 9.5% jump from 2025.

Currently the government has ceased functioning because partisan disputes regarding tax credits that experts say will lead to a doubling of premiums for millions of Americans.

When Might We Truly Examine Universal Healthcare?

When will we seriously consider a national health insurance program here in America? I have to believe we're getting closer because this situation is unsustainable.

I'm not proposing national healthcare. I'm advocating that our already existing Medicare system – an established insurance framework – merely extend to cover everyone. Our infrastructure doesn't change. How our healthcare providers receive payment would change. Believe me, they will adjust.

The Way National Health Insurance Would Work

Universal healthcare coverage would need payments from both workers and companies. In comparable systems, a worker earning average wages pays approximately five point three percent toward medical coverage. Their employer must contribute about 13.75%.

Does this appear like a lot? Not if you contrast it to what the typical American pays. I know dozens of businesses that are easily contributing between 8% to 15% of their employee wages for medical benefits. And keep in mind that in inclusive programs, these contributions include retirement benefits, sick pay, maternity leave and job loss protection along with funding healthcare facilities. When you add these expenses compared with what we pay on retirement programs, job loss coverage and paid time off, the difference decreases.

Execution for America

For America, universal healthcare funding would increase our Medicare tax deduction, a system already established. It ought to be means-based – wealthier individuals would pay more than lower-income earners. There would be both an employee and company payments. Similar to much of federal military, technology, welfare services and transportation services, the program should be outsourced by private contractors rather than a government office.

Benefits for Entrepreneurs

Universal healthcare coverage represents a huge benefit for entrepreneurs like mine. It would put small companies in equal competition with our larger competitors who can afford better plans. It would make administration significantly simpler (automatic payroll withholding processed similarly to retirement and healthcare taxes, rather than individual transactions to benefit firms and insurance providers).

It would enable simpler to plan expenses our yearly costs, instead of enduring the complex (and ineffective) theater of bargaining with major insurers required annually each year. Because it's simplified, there would be a better understanding about benefits among workers – as opposed to the current system where they have to decipher the complications of existing plans. And there would definitely exist less liability for employers as we no longer would be privy to workers' medical records for weighing risks and different options.

Capitalist Perspective

I'm as capitalist as they get. However I recognize that public institutions play important functions in our lives, from providing defense to supporting needed infrastructure. Providing healthcare for everyone via universal healthcare strengthens economic foundations. It's a better, easier system for entrepreneurs that employ the majority of American employees and generate half of our GDP. It enables employees to be healthier, have better attendance and increase productivity.

Considering Challenges

Are there numerous factors I'm not addressing? Of course there are. But with all the healthcare cost increases experienced in recent years, it's evident that current healthcare legislation is not working very well. And I realize that we're not a small, Scandinavian country where major reforms are easier to implement. However extending universal Medicare, despite increased taxation required, would remain a better and less expensive approach for not only managing medical expenses and ensuring coverage for all citizens.

Time for Honest Assessment

As Americans, we need to reduce national pride. Our healthcare system isn't so great. The US places well below numerous nations with the best healthcare in the world, according to comprehensive research. Perhaps a bright spot in this present circumstances could be that we take serious examination in the mirror and acknowledge that big changes need to happen.