Unlike EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, in America we do not have a universal healthcare system. Yes, America has some of the best healthcare in the world, IF YOU CAN GET IT. Patients, doctors, and nurses are all increasingly frustrated at the expenses, prior authorizations, and denials from insurance companies. Patients can’t get in to see a doctor when they want to. Doctors and nurses are quitting because they are burnt out from the pressure to see more patients with less time to do a good job. This is all happening at a time when our population is aging and needs more medical care. Even people with insurance cannot afford their medications, their deductibles, their co-pays, and on and on.

On top of that, the Medicaid cuts in the “Big Beautiful Bill” are not going to be simple budget cuts. They are going to result in a restructuring of medical care all over the country. People are not going to get what they need, and hospitals and nursing homes are going to close. Premiums are going up on private policies as well as for Medicare. Congress has also cut funding for medical research and public health. This is not a way to make America either Great or Healthy.

The whole concept of having healthcare tied to your employment is flawed. It came about after World War II, when employers tried to attract workers by offering health insurance as a benefit. But what are you supposed to do if you are too sick to work? And back in the old days, when you came to see me, I gave you your penicillin shot and you paid me a dollar or a dozen eggs. But now, when your back is thrown out, you want an MRI. And you cannot come up with enough eggs to pay for that. We cannot afford all these amazing and expensive technologies unless we pool our resources to have them available in our communities. That is not “Socialism,” that is just reality.

We need a universal healthcare system that covers all our citizens. Whether we end up having a system that is a type of health savings account for each person, or a baseline of government coverage supplemented by small private plans, I know we can create a system that is better than what we have now, and where nobody needs to fear going bankrupt if their appendix bursts. And I am sure we can design a system where everyone has some skin in the game, such as a modest copay, to deter abuse of the system.

Not only would a universal system be good for each person, but it would be good for the economy. Our companies are burdened by the expenses of insuring their employees. Right now, insurance for the average family of four covered by employer-sponsored insurance costs the employee $9,000 in premiums and the employer $18,000. This is terrible for businesses. Companies also limit many workers to 30 hours or less in order to avoid these expenses. If we transition to a universal system, the cost of medical care will go DOWN because we can eliminate the need for coders, billers and middle managers who contribute nothing to direct patient care. And your doctor will have more time to take care of you because they won’t have to spend half their day doing reams of paperwork, or figuring out how to game the system for you so that your colonoscopy is considered “screening” (free for you!) and not “diagnostic” (cost you an arm and a leg).

I am under no illusion that it will be easy to develop a universal healthcare system for our country. There are many different interest groups that may fight to preserve the status quo. But we are definitely entering a crisis point with our healthcare system; the vast majority of people agree on that. And a crisis provides an opportunity for change. In the meantime, there are things we need to do quickly within the current system to bring down costs. Negotiating prices for prescription drugs and eliminating some rules and regulations that haven’t improved quality of care or patient safety are just two examples.

We also need to be training a lot more doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. That is another long discussion, but it is an issue that is very important for healthcare in this country. As a physician who has been training young family doctors for the past 15 years, I can say that I do not see that this has been addressed in any serious way by Congress.

We are the greatest country in the world. We can do this!