Affordable Care Act

Jaw said:
I planned on making a casserole a couple of nights ago. It would have taken 20 minutes of prep and an hour in the oven. One of the kids had something come up and we didn’t have that hour to waste so I threw something together with penne, ground beef, frozen broccoli, and cheese. It wasn’t great but it hit most of the nutrition requirements and was on plates in less than 20 minutes. Total cost for a family of four (with some leftovers) was maybe $14. One of my kids can’t have gluten so all of our meals are gluten free.

When someone like me who can’t cook is able to make a fairly nutritious, gluten free meal for 4 in 20 minutes for $15, there just isn’t a lot of justification for trash food like tv dinners and hamburger helper.
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I feel privilege somewhere here. I don't know where it is or how to define it but it wreaks of privilege.
 
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Getting healthcare costs down is easy:

1 - Massively incentivize healthy people and charge the hell out of fat people
2 - Stop spending countless sums on extending the life of old people by 1 year
3 - Stop giving illegals free healthcare

We do all those things and health care costs will plummet for majority of people.
 
sturg33 said:
Stop subsidizing it

Problem solved
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I think there are societal intrinsic benefits to a healthy population. Its always been my position.

I also want to keep the poors at bay and not have them revolt and destroy this country.
 
“A democrat bill (ACA) dependent on democrat subsidies that democrats set out to sunset, is now a republican problem”

Sorry not today, Pocahontas
 
It seems obvious to me there will be a negotiated settlement to this standoff. And it will be somewhere between the parties' maximal positions.
 

​

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #639: Sunday, November 9th, 2025

The Part Nobody Says Out Loud​

Let me start with a statement so true…so obvious…and so politically radioactive…that no president…senator…or billionaire health-fund executive…will ever say it in public:

America does not have a healthcare system.
America has a healthcare market.
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And like every market built to maximize profit instead of wellbeing, it produces what it’s designed to produce:​

  • highest costs in the world
  • shorter life expectancy
  • more chronic disease
  • more medical bankruptcies
  • more administrative waste
  • worse outcomes for women
  • worse outcomes for newborns
  • worse outcomes for the poor
  • worse outcomes for the middle class
  • and total confusion for literally everyone else
It’s not broken.

It’s working exactly as intended.​

And if you feel like you’re being chewed up and spit out by a machine…you are.

But here’s the twist most Americans never get to hear:​

The best healthcare system for the entire U.S. population is not hypothetical. It already exists. It’s already been tested. It’s already working…in multiple countries.

We could adopt it tomorrow.

But we won’t.​

Not yet.

Not now.

Not without a level of political and economic force this country hasn’t seen since the Great Depression.

That’s what this article is about.​

Not just what America should do…

…but why it won’t…

…and​

Because one way or another…

this collapse leads somewhere.

And if you’re reading this newsletter…you’re already ten steps ahead of the general population.

Let’s Talk Like Adults​

I’m not writing this for pundits…lobbyists…think-tanks…or the wealthy.​

I’m writing this for people like you:

Americans who:​

  • worry about medical bills
  • take care of aging parents
  • raised kids in an unstable system
  • watched insurance premiums rise
  • were forced into plans they didn’t choose
  • lived through a pandemic nightmare
  • work damn hard and still feel exposed

And most importantly:​

people who know this country can do better…and are sick of being told “that’s just the way things are.”

..............................

To be continued
 

(2)​

You and I…both know that’s not true.​

You and I also know America has the talent…resources…intelligence…and infrastructure to create a world-class healthcare system…the best on Earth…and still keep abundant room for private innovation.

We are not short on ability.

We are short on political will.

We are short on courage.​

We are short on leaders…who aren’t owned by the same corporations…siphoning money out of the system like a ruptured artery.

So if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the complexity of healthcare policy… understand this:​

It is intentionally confusing.

Confusion is not a bug.

It’s a profit center.

How the Healthcare Game REALLY Works (​

Let me walk you straight into the truth…the kind that’s usually buried under 600-page legislation and $80 million of corporate lobbying.

When you strip away the noise…the best healthcare system for the United States looks like this:

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The Best System: A Public Core + Private Options​

A true universal, single-payer primary system with:​

*universal primary care
*universal emergency care
*universal hospitalization
*universal maternity care
*universal mental health
*universal prescription basics
*unified digital health records
*nationwide drug-price negotiation
*coverage disconnected from employment
*private plans optional (not mandatory)
*freedom to choose private/upgraded care if you want it

This model is:​

  • Canadian in its simplicity
  • French in its efficiency
  • Taiwanese in its tech
  • Australian in its hybrid structure
  • Scandinavian in its outcomes
  • and American in its innovation

Every advanced nation that uses a version of this system achieves:​

  • lower mortality
  • longer lifespan
  • lower infant death
  • lower chronic disease burden
  • better cancer screening
  • lower administrative waste
  • fewer medical bankruptcies
  • more preventative care
  • cheaper drugs
  • cheaper surgeries
  • more stable rural hospitals
This is the mathematically optimal system…for a massive…diverse population.

It’s not ideology.

It’s data.​

Healthcare is not like consumer electronics.
Healthcare is not like real estate.
Healthcare is not like groceries.

Healthcare is a​

Markets don’t work for essential services.

That’s why every functioning country treats healthcare as an essential infrastructure… not a profit extraction mechanism.

So Why Doesn’t America Have This? (​

Because the United States is not designed around the common good.​

It is designed around private interests.


  • prices rise
  • paperwork expands
  • networks narrow
  • denials increase
  • complexity grows
  • confusion reigns
  • patients feel powerless
  • providers feel overworked
  • workers stay tied to employment for benefits

What we call “the U.S. healthcare system” is actually:​

1) a $4.5 trillion revenue machine
2) protected by the most powerful lobbies on Earth
3) extracting money from sick people while telling them it’s freedom

The real players:​

  • private insurers
  • pharmaceutical giants
  • hospital conglomerates
  • private equity in emergency rooms
  • employer-based plans
  • medical billing corporations
  • administrative middlemen
  • lobbyists
  • donors
  • political action committees
These groups do not want a universal public core.

Not because it wouldn’t work…

…but because it would.​

A system that prioritizes health over billing would destroy dozens of billion-dollar revenue streams.

America doesn’t resist universal healthcare because it’s socialist.

America resists universal healthcare because it’s less profitable​

....​

to be continued
 
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