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Out-of-pocket costs. Preferred providers. Out-of-network. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Fixed payment. Co-insurance. Benefit advisers. Insurance brokers. Medical advisors. ACA. HMO. Preferred Provider Organization. Exclusive Provider Organization. Point of Service. HDHP. HSA. Flexible Spending Account. Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Explanation of Benefits. COBRA. SHOP. Single coverage. Family coverage. Insurance subsidies.

Baffled? You should be. Who comprehends this complex system? Certainly not the average business owner. Nor the typical worker. Selecting the appropriate healthcare insurance for companies – or for households – appears to require demands a PhD in medical insurance.

Our Medical System Isn't Just Complex, It Is Costly

Based on recent research, the average family pays $twenty-seven thousand each year for their health insurance (up 6% from last year). Typical company healthcare expense is expected to surpass $seventeen thousand per employee in 2026, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2025.

Now the government is shut down because political disagreements regarding subsidies that experts say will lead to premium increases up to 100% for millions of Americans.

When Will We Seriously Consider Universal Healthcare?

How soon might we genuinely evaluate a national health insurance program in the United States? I have to believe we're getting closer because this can't continue.

I'm not suggesting government-run medicine. I'm advocating that our already existing Medicare program – an insurance system – simply expand to cover everyone. The existing system doesn't change. How our healthcare providers get paid would change. Trust me, they'll adapt.

How Universal Coverage Could Function

Universal healthcare coverage would need payments from employees and employers. In comparable systems, an employee earning moderate income pays about 5.3% to their healthcare. The company pays about thirteen point seventy-five percent.

Does this appear like a lot? Not if you compare it to what the typical US resident spends. I can name dozens of businesses that are easily contributing between eight to fifteen percent of payroll costs to their healthcare costs. Remember that in comprehensive systems, these contributions include pension plans, illness coverage, parental benefits and unemployment benefits along with funding healthcare facilities. When including these expenses compared with what we pay for our retirement plans, unemployment insurance and paid time off, the gap narrows.

Implementation for America

In the US, a national health premium would increase existing Medicare taxes, a system that is already in place. It ought to be income-adjusted – wealthier individuals would pay more than lower-income earners. This includes both worker and employer contribution. And, like many federal defense, technology, social programs and infrastructure, the program should be outsourced by private contractors rather than federal agencies.

Advantages for Entrepreneurs

A national health insurance program represents a huge benefit for entrepreneurs such as my company. It would place small companies in equal competition with our larger competitors that can pay for better plans. It would render management much easier (automatic payroll withholding remitted like social security and Medicare taxes, instead of separate payments to insurance companies and coverage administrators).

It would make it easier for us to budget our yearly costs, instead of going through the complicated (and fruitless) process of bargaining with major insurers that we must do each year. Due to simplification, there would be improved comprehension of coverage by our employees – as opposed to the current system where they have to decipher the complexities of existing plans. And there would definitely exist reduced responsibility for employers as we no longer would be privy to our employees' health histories for purposes of weighing risks and alternative plans.

Free-Market Viewpoint

I'm as pro-market as they get. However I recognize that government play important functions in our lives, including national security to supporting needed infrastructure. Ensuring medical coverage to all via universal healthcare strengthens economic foundations. It represents superior, simpler approach for entrepreneurs that employ the majority of the country's workers and generate half of our GDP. It makes it possible employees to be healthier, come to work more often and increase productivity.

Addressing Concerns

Exist numerous factors I'm not addressing? Certainly. But with all the healthcare cost increases we've seen recently, it's evident that current healthcare legislation is not working effectively. And I realize that we're not a compact European nation where big changes can be readily adopted. But expanding Medicare for all, despite increased taxation required, would remain a better and more affordable approach for not only managing medical expenses and ensuring coverage to everyone.

Need for Realistic Evaluation

We as Americans, we need to reduce our own arrogance. America's medical care isn't so great. The US places well below many other countries with the best healthcare in the world, based on major studies. Maybe one bright spot amid present circumstances could be that we undertake a hard look in the mirror and acknowledge that big changes need to happen.