It is important to note that while a complete overhaul of our Healthcare System—literally from the ground up—would cost approximately $926 billion a year, The Third Option would still collect $1205.2 billion each year to fund healthcare initially, just in case there were any unforeseen expenses. If our hypothesis is correct, however, the cost would only go down through time, as our citizens became more healthy, resilient, happy, and above all, more valued.
Because of a National Bank, we could build nearly $1.5 trillion in new Healthcare Infrastructure, but pay as little as $80 billion a year in annual mortgage payments. To pay our healthcare staff might cost us seven times that amount, but would be well worth it, if Americans could begin to feel better about themselves, their current condition, and their future well-being.
Ultimately, whatever healthcare costs, we would need to pay for it, and if we do not make everyone individually accountable for their own health in some manner, issues of abusing this ‘right’, as well as claims of ‘coerced charity’ would surely arise. On the other hand, if we do not tie our fates together, society will erode, as it has currently, because we are individually divided and thus powerless to address the systemic issues underlying our poor health outcomes. Healthcare is difficult to navigate because the more dire someone’s circumstances are—physically, mentally, or emotionally—the more likely their health will begin to fail them; those least able to afford healthcare are usually the ones who will need it the most. This makes healthcare an important measure of our society. The more healthcare we need, the more we are failing as a society. This can also be said for higher levels of taxation—aka ‘bigger government’—or higher levels of National Debt, incarceration, violence or wealth disparity. These each signal that something is flawed in our overall approach. As always, The Third Option points to issues of Certainty, Belonging, Fairness and Sustainability when trying to comprehend any human behavior.
It is time for a new paradigm, where healthcare becomes truly preventive, and is designed to minimize our suffering, not ‘capitalize’ on it. The Third Option has devised a holistic plan that A) strikes at the societal root of our suffering, while B) continuing to treat the symptoms of it, which manifest as various poor health outcomes. Importantly, it is also attempts to introduce accountability for one’s own health, through subtle ‘health’ taxation tacked onto the unhealthy products and services each of us consume, which are indications of an unhealthy outlook on life, that consequently manifest as poor health outcomes. This kind of ‘taxation / insurance’ allows people to retain their Liberty, without infringing on the Liberty of others.
