🔗 Share this article

Out-of-pocket costs. Preferred providers. Out-of-network. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Co-payment. Shared insurance. Insurance consultants. Insurance brokers. Healthcare consultants. Affordable Care Act. HMO. Preferred Provider Organization. EPO. Point of Service. High Deductible Health Plan. HSA. Flexible Spending Account. Health Reimbursement Arrangement. EOB. COBRA. SHOP. Single coverage. Dependent coverage. Insurance subsidies.

Baffled? It's understandable. Who understands all this stuff? Certainly not the average entrepreneur. Neither the average employee. Selecting the right healthcare insurance for our business – or for households – appears to require demands a PhD in healthcare.

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

According to recent research, the average family spends $27,000 each year on medical coverage (up 6% from last year). Typical company healthcare expense is expected to surpass $seventeen thousand per employee in 2026, a 9.5% jump from 2025.

Now federal operations is shut down due to political disagreements regarding tax credits which analysts predict will lead to premium increases up to 100% for millions of Americans.

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 getting closer since this situation is unsustainable.

I'm not suggesting national healthcare. I'm advocating that our already existing Medicare system – an established insurance framework – merely extend to include all citizens. The existing system remains intact. How our healthcare providers get paid changes. Believe me, they'll adapt.

The Way National Health Insurance Would Work

Universal healthcare coverage would need payments from both workers and companies. In comparable systems, a worker making moderate income must contribute about 5.3% to their healthcare. The company pays approximately 13.75%.

Does this seem like a lot? Unless you compare that with what average American pays. I know dozens of businesses that are routinely paying between eight to fifteen percent of their employee wages to their healthcare costs. And keep in mind that in inclusive programs, those payments include retirement benefits, sick pay, maternity leave and job loss protection in addition to funding medical services. When including those costs compared with what we pay on retirement programs, unemployment insurance and vacation benefits, the gap narrows.

Implementation in the US

In the US, a national health premium would raise our Medicare tax deduction, a system already established. It should be means-based – those at higher income levels would contribute higher amounts than those earning less. There would be both an employee and company payments. And, like much of our government's defense, technology, social programs and infrastructure, the system should be outsourced to third-party administrators rather than a government office.

Advantages for Small Businesses

Universal healthcare coverage would be a huge benefit for entrepreneurs such as my company. It would put small companies in equal competition with our larger competitors who can afford better plans. It would make 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 simpler to plan expenses annual expenditures, instead of enduring the complicated (and fruitless) theater of negotiating with the big insurance providers required annually every year. Because it's simplified, there would exist improved comprehension of coverage by our employees – contrasted with the current system which require them to interpret the complexities of existing plans. Additionally there would certainly be reduced responsibility for companies since we wouldn't would be privy to our employees' medical records for risk assessment and different options.

Capitalist Perspective

I'm as pro-market as they get. However I recognize that government has a significant role in our lives, including national security to supporting essential systems. Ensuring medical coverage for everyone through a national insurance system strengthens economic foundations. It represents superior, easier system for small businesses which hire the majority of American employees and generate half the economic output. It makes it possible for workers to enjoy better health, come to work more often and be more productive.

Considering Challenges

Are there a million considerations I'm not addressing? Certainly. Given all the healthcare cost increases experienced in recent years, it's clear that current healthcare legislation isn't functioning effectively. And I realize that we're not a small, Scandinavian country where major reforms are easier to implement. But expanding universal Medicare, despite increased taxation that would be incurred, would remain a superior and less expensive approach for not only managing medical expenses but providing access for all citizens.

Time for Honest Assessment

As Americans, must reduce our own arrogance. America's medical care isn't so great. We rank significantly behind numerous nations with the best healthcare in the world, according to major studies. Maybe one positive aspect in this current situation could be that we undertake serious examination in the mirror and agree that big changes need to happen.