Fix the Healthcare System
America’s healthcare system prioritizes corporate profit over patient care, forcing patients and doctors to fight insurance companies and middlemen for basic treatment. However, momentum for reform is growing through bipartisan anti-monopoly legislation, transparent pricing models, and universal coverage proposals. To drive lasting change, now is the time to demand a system that puts health over profits.
Why does it matter?
From the cost of prescription drugs, to medical bankruptcy, to inadequate care, our opaque system is designed for insurance companies and the large Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to maximize profit while doctors and patients struggle with basic care.
Fixing healthcare is a complicated issue that needs a multitiered solution. Read this article with an overview of the broken system and why reform is so badly needed.
Resources:
Why is it hard to change our healthcare system?
Transitioning to a new healthcare system is a complex, long-term process. European universal care models were built decades ago—well before the rise of modern medical technology and America’s web of corporate healthcare conglomerates. Funding major reforms is further complicated by a massive U.S. national debt.
Building a sustainable, universal healthcare system will require extensive state-level legislative action, bipartisan federal cooperation, and a plan to decouple health coverage from employment and private insurance.
Despite these hurdles, pathways exist for healthcare reform.
Breaking Up Big Medicine
As reported by the Ohio Capital Journal, major healthcare conglomerates now own health insurance plans, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and doctor’s offices all under one corporate roof. These vertical integrations create severe conflicts of interest that squeeze small independent pharmacies, restrict access to low-cost medications, and artificially inflate out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Legislative Solution: The bipartisan Break Up Big Medicine Act—co-sponsored by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO)—aims to forcibly separate these integrated entities to restore fair market competition.
Market Transparency & Price Reform
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban entered the chat several years ago. He argues that a core driver of high healthcare costs is that real prices are hidden behind secret insurance contracts, opaque hospital billing, and middleman markups. Here are some possible solutions:
Policy Proposals: Force all medical pricing into the open, ban secret contracts, and impose fines up to $1 million per day for hospitals and insurers that keep costs hidden.
Cost Protections: Proposals include establishing caps so no family pays more than 10% of their income toward healthcare costs.
Corporate Reform Support: Advocates of transparency reforms, including Cuban, strongly support the Warren/Hawley legislation to eliminate corporate conflicts of interest alongside transparent pricing.
Listen to this podcast to learn more about Mark Cuban's perspective and his work with Cost Plus Drugs to strip away unnecessary healthcare markups.
Resources:
“Historical Background”: Exploring the U.S. Healthcare System by Karen L. Valaitis.
US debt hits $40 trillion as America’s borrowing binge continues - NY Times
Bipartisan bill aims to end health conflicts and bring down costs after years of complaints in Ohio - Ohio Capital Journal
Why breaking up insurers is getting attention - Axios
Mark Cuban’s Blueprint for Affordable Healthcare - The Bulwark Healthcare Podcast
Cost Plus Drugs, a public benefit corporation - Medium
Cost Plus Drugs Beats Commercial Insurance Co-Pays 80% of the time - AJMC
Mark Cuban warns insurers could sabotage healthcare reform - TheStreet
Mark Cuban Says $5 Trillion US Healthcare System Is 'Expensive by Design - Vision Times
S1506 - Medicare for All - Congress.gov Co-sponsors
Medicare Update: Inside Bernie Sander’s Proposal to Save Thousands of Lives - Newsweek
Employer Health Costs are Expected to Spike in 2027 - The New York Times
What actions can I take to change our healthcare system?
Educate Yourself: Weigh whether structural anti-monopoly reform, a mandatory single-payer model, a competitive public option, and/or a market-driven transparency approach offers the most viable path forward.
Contact Federal Representatives: Ask Ohio Senators Moreno, Husted and your Representative to support the bipartisan Break Up Big Medicine Act, introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley. Why this matters: This legislation directly tackles years of consumer complaints by prohibiting health conglomerates from owning pharmacies and doctors' offices at the same time they run insurance plans and PBMs. This act would eliminate rigged pricing structures and lower costs for everyday Americans.
Contact State Legislators: Find and contact your senator and representative. Push for state-level cash-pay transparency laws that allow patients to pay lower cash rates for medical services and apply those payments directly toward their insurance deductibles.
Engage Local Advocacy Groups: Connect with non-partisan grassroots organizations like Healthcare for All Ohioans to learn how universal coverage models could be administered at the state level.
Talk to Your Doctors: Inform healthcare providers about direct-to-consumer platforms like Cost Plus Drugs to help bypass PBM markups and lower patient prescription costs.
Support Community Health Clinics: Advocate for state and federal funding for local health centers that provide essential care to underserved communities.
Mobilize Healthcare Professionals: If you are a doctor or healthcare worker, engage with advocacy groups like the Committee to Protect Health Care to mobilize providers around patient-first policies.
Resources:
Fact Check: Medicare for All Would Save the U.S. Trillions - Public Citizen
Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year - Yale School of Public Health
Study: 'Medicare For All' Projected To Cost $32.6 Trillion - CBS News / AP
What are the options to build a a universal healthcare system?
Single-Payer System ("Medicare for All")
Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Act replaces private insurance with one government-run plan. Section 107 bans private plans from duplicating public coverage and limiting them strictly to non-essential supplemental care. The Lancet (via Newsweek) estimates this model could prevent 68,000 deaths and save over $450B annually on administration and drug prices.
Multi-Payer / "Public Option" System
A hybrid model creating a public plan that competes directly with private insurers. It guarantees universal access while letting people keep employer-sponsored or private coverage. (The ACA is multi-payer, but currently lacks a public option.)
The Big Debate: Does "Medicare for All" actually save money?
Both sides are answering two different questions:
Would total national spending drop? Yes. Independent studies show cutting insurance overhead and negotiating drug prices yields annual national savings of $450B to $1T.
Can the government afford it? That's harder. Shifting costs from private premiums to taxes requires historic tax hikes. Because current bills don't lock in long-term funding, political shifts could destabilize the system.
Bottom Line: Total U.S. healthcare spending would decrease, but the federal budget required to run it would grow significantly larger and harder to guarantee long-term.