🔗 Share this article As a Committed Free-Market Advocate, But Medicare for All Represents the Best Hope for American Health System Out-of-pocket costs. Preferred providers. Out-of-network. Premium health services. Personal healthcare costs. Co-payment. Co-insurance. Insurance consultants. Insurance brokers. Healthcare consultants. ACA. Health Maintenance Organization. PPO. Exclusive Provider Organization. Point of Service. HDHP. HSA. FSA. Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Explanation of Benefits. COBRA. SHOP. Individual coverage. Dependent coverage. Premium tax credits. Confused? You should be. Who comprehends this complex system? Certainly not the average business owner. Neither the average worker. Choosing the right medical coverage for our business – or for households – seems like demands a PhD in medical insurance. The Healthcare System Is More Than Complex, It's Costly According to recent research, the average family pays $27,000 annually for their health insurance (increasing by 6% from last year). The average employer health insurance cost is expected to surpass $17,000 per employee in 2026, an increase of 9.5% compared to 2025. Currently federal operations has ceased functioning because partisan disputes over subsidies that experts say could cause premium increases up to 100% for millions of Americans. When Will We Truly Examine Universal Healthcare? How soon might we seriously consider a national health insurance program in the United States? I have to believe we're approaching that point because this can't continue. I'm not proposing government-run medicine. I'm advocating for our current Medicare system – an insurance system – simply expand to include all citizens. The existing system remains intact. The way medical professionals receive payment would change. Believe me, they'll adapt. The Way National Health Insurance Could Function A national health insurance program would require payments from both workers and companies. In comparable systems, an employee earning average wages 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 contrast it to what the typical American pays. I know 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 retirement benefits, illness coverage, parental benefits and unemployment benefits along with funding healthcare facilities. When including these expenses versus what we pay for our retirement plans, unemployment insurance and vacation benefits, the gap narrows. Implementation in the US In the US, a national health premium would raise existing Medicare taxes, a framework already established. It ought to be means-based – wealthier individuals would contribute higher amounts than lower-income earners. There would be both worker and company payments. And, like many federal defense, technology, welfare services and transportation services, the system should be outsourced by private contractors rather than federal agencies. Benefits for Small Businesses Universal healthcare coverage would be a significant advantage for entrepreneurs like mine. It would put us on a level playing field against big corporations who can afford better plans. It would make administration significantly simpler (automatic payroll withholding remitted like retirement and Medicare taxes, instead of individual transactions to insurance companies and coverage administrators). It would enable simpler for us to budget annual expenditures, instead of enduring the complex (and fruitless) theater of bargaining with major insurers required annually each year. Due to simplification, there would be improved comprehension of coverage among workers – as opposed to existing arrangements where they have to decipher the complications of existing plans. And there would definitely exist reduced responsibility for employers as we no longer have access to workers' health histories for purposes of weighing risks and different options. Free-Market Viewpoint I'm as capitalist as they get. But I've learned that public institutions play important functions in society, from providing defense to supporting needed infrastructure. Providing healthcare for everyone via universal healthcare enhances economic foundations. It's a better, simpler approach for entrepreneurs that employ the majority of American employees and fund half of our GDP. It makes it possible for workers to be healthier, have better attendance and increase productivity. Considering Challenges Are there numerous factors I'm not addressing? Of course there are. Given rising medical expenses experienced recently, it's clear that the Affordable Care Act isn't functioning very well. And I realize that we're not a compact European nation where big changes can be readily adopted. But expanding universal Medicare, even with the additional taxes that would be incurred, would still be a superior and less expensive approach for not only managing medical expenses and ensuring coverage to everyone. Need for Honest Assessment We as Americans, we need to reduce our own arrogance. Our healthcare system isn't so great. The US places well below many other countries in healthcare quality in the world, based on major studies. Maybe one positive aspect in this current situation is that we take a hard look at ourselves and agree that big changes are necessary.