The Government is Already Paying for Your Health Insurance, Buddy
About 18% of U.S. GDP every year gets spent on health care. Half of that, 9%, is coming from the government, which is about the whole cost of other countries’ public health programs. In other words, for what the U.S. spends on Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, VA benefits, and the tax write-off for employer-sponsored plans, we could have free basic health insurance for everyone. This is why the co-authors of the 2023 book “We’ve Got You Covered” describe the current health insurance system as a total tear-down. We could have universal insurance coverage for all with no tax hike if we started building from the ground up. Chapters: 0:00 Announcements 0:58 Retcon — Costco cashier's $33/hr job and career security 2:49 Terms & Conditions — Political economy, Cost Sharing, Gatekeeping 7:45 The Big Pilcrow: “Americare… Just Enough” 8:08 Healthcare vs. health insurance — why this is really an insurance/payer fight 12:53 We have 5+ public health programs already 17:07 Health economist Amy Finkelstein's research: "It's a tear-down, not a fixer-upper" 19:55 The proposed system — universal basic coverage + letting “rich people rich" without letting them opt out 28:11What Americans would love or hate 40:44 This health world changed a lot since Obamacare 43:20 Executive Orders — Airport boarding pass warnings, living-roof bus stops 45:20 Spiritual Sponsors — Resurrection fern, Aunt Fern 46:42 Credits Donate to Optimist Economy: https://optimisteconomy.com Video-curious? Watch the Optimist Economy YouTube channel. We’re also on Instagram at @optimist_economy or TikTok at @optimist_economy. Chat with other Optimists on Substack. Find utility with our merch: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Got economic questions, concerns, or executive orders? Send them to optimist.economy@gmail.com
