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a better way to pay for healthcare?

National Review: A Better Way to Pay for Healthcare?

An innovator in the health-sharing space shows how to rein in costs while protecting human dignity. There is a better way to pay for healthcare.

Although Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) remains hotly contested, one thing is clear: Health care costs in this country have ballooned to unprecedented heights. 

During his confirmation hearing to become secretary of the most expensive agency in the government, RFK Jr. displayed limited knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid which, when taken together, are the largest expense of the entire federal budget. In fiscal year 2023, the federal government spent $839 billion on Medicare and $616 billion on Medicaid. In other words, the HHS spent $1.45 trillion of taxpayer money on these two programs alone. The Pentagon’s budget is half that. In short, the HHS oversees over a quarter of the federal budget. Or, as NR’s Jim Geraghty put it, HHS accounts for one out of every four federal dollars. 

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which became effective under President Obama, increased both HHS spending and the cost of private health insurance for the average individual. According to a Heritage Foundation report, “the national average monthly premium paid in the individual market in 2013 was $244, while by 2019 it was $558 — more than doubling (a 129 percent increase) from 2013 to 2019.” Since the ACA was passed in 2010, the country’s National Health Expenditure (NHE) has nearly doubled. In 2010, health expenditures approached $2.6 trillion — by 2023 (with an extra boost from Covid-19 costs), that number reached $4.9 trillion. While the ACA offers substantial discounts to low-income users, most middle-class Americans shopping for those plans can access neither competitive premium rates nor subsidies to counterbalance the high premium costs.  

National Review spoke with cofounders Brad Hahn and Chris Faddis of Solidarity HealthShare, a Catholic-focused health-sharing organization dedicated to upholding human dignity and to increasing price transparency in health care transactions. The organization, which was founded amidst the roll-out of the ACA, seeks to bring religious freedom and market choice back into the health care market.  

Brad and Chris gave their perspective on how we can improve healthcare in America. We know there is a better way to pay for healthcare, and it should be accessible for all Americans!

Read about their full conversation with National Review here!