Our goal is to guarantee 100% of Americans have access to high quality, whole-person, patient-centered health care treatment and services, regardless of income, employment status or geographic location by establishing a Single System (Direct Service) Universal Health Care System in the United States.

 

About Universal Health Care

Universal health care is a premise that asserts a system should be developed to guarantee 100% of Americans have access to basic health care services, regardless of income, employment status or geographic location in the U.S. For many people, the idea of universal health care conjures images of a “nationalized” health care industry. However, the solution is not to nationalize the health care industry, but for the United States to enter the health care industry itself. Much like a grocer provides “generic” or “store brand” goods and products, the direct service universal health care model allows the United States to provide its own “brand” of health care service in the market.

Rather than subsidizing the private market at great expense to taxpayers and employers while still failing to guarantee access to health care for 100% of Americans, the United States has the ability to drive down costs and promote efficiencies in the system by providing a baseline standard of service itself. The single system universal health care model can save Americans and taxpayers far more than the current system, and more importantly, it can guarantee 100% access to services, particularly during a pandemic. It can even ensure the United States doesn’t run afoul of free market principles. 

 

Getting It Started

To provide direct service universal health care for the United States, Congress needs to establish a single independent agency with a mission to ensure 100% of Americans can access basic health care and life saving services, and that is tasked with providing specific health and mental health services for the American people. This proposal calls for the independent agency to be named the “United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness” (USCPHW).

This model is designed to allow the United States to guarantee 100% of Americans can access health care services by ending private industry subsidies and replacing the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid/Medicare insurance programs with more efficient, affordable and better health care outcomes associated with direct services offered directly by the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Implementation calls for the President and Congress to establish the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness as standalone independent agency, or under the pre-existing Department of Health & Human Services. The President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, will appoint a governing board to oversee the agency’s operations made of 15-30 medical professionals, patients, community advocates and liaisons, and others who are committed to the health and well-being of Americans.

Within a matter of months, the board will establish federal wages and benefits for those employed by the U.S. Corporation for Public Health & Wellness, while beginning to convene regional advisory boards across the nation to provide input into essential patient care services. During the process, the U.S. Corporation for Public Health & Wellness can also begin establishing contracts and purchase offers for local facilities. In a matter of 12-15 months (or less), the United States will have its own direct service universal health care system, guaranteeing 100% of Americans’ access to health care, ensuring the ability to coordinate against nationwide pandemics, and eliminating staggering health care costs for local and state governments and the American people as a whole.

 

United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness: What Will It Provide?

The U.S. Corporation for Public Health & Wellness will provide to every American, at minimum:

• 1-2 physicals or wellness exams each year, which include basic lab tests and preventative screenings
• Individualized wellness and illness prevention plans, as well as preventative treatment for known diseases such as vaccines, antibiotics, etc.
• Examination and consultation to determine root causes of illness or injury when patients present with issues or complaints, including relevant x-rays, labs and additional testing as needed
• Recommendations for treatment and prevention, including prescriptions for specific drugs, surgeries, or referrals for specialized services, including social services, mental health services, physical therapy and others
• Surgical or other physical procedures to address immediate bodily injury, illness or trauma
• On-going treatment as needed for chronic illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kidney failures, etc.
• Basic dentistry and vision services
• Mental health counseling and addiction treatment services
• Supported living facilities
• Medically-related transportation
• Prescriptions fulfillment, research and development
• Equipment (technology) creation and acquisition

 

A Regional Approach: Determining Essential Services and the Therapeutic Framework

To deliver these services, the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness defines population-based health service regions of 50,000 or 25,000 which establishes approximately 6,600-13,200 centralized hospital and related facilities regions across the United States (similar to the current amount of hospital facilities already in existence). Each region is equipped with the appropriate staff, supplies and medical technologies to completely serve their region and provide the basic and essential services included in the Congressional mandate for the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness.

Within a matter of months, the United States could have its very own direct service universal health care system, even rivaling models of other nations. Advisory boards and commissions for each health service region made of medical professionals, social workers, researchers, patients and other health industry and community stakeholders ensure the most up-to-date advancements, and the continuous incorporation of best practices in the field. In addition, these regional advisory boards can help the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness codify services that need to be considered “essential”. For example:

• Patient Navigation Services
• Chiropractic care
• Massage therapy
• Wellness Coaching
• Dentistry
• Vision
• Mental Health
• Addictions Treatment
• Emergency Medical Transportation
• Non-Emergency Medical Transportation
• Supported/Assisted Living Facilities
• Social work services
• Prescriptions
• Chronic illness treatments
• Trial vaccines and treatments
• Trauma-Informed Care and Services

Regional advisory boards can also address systemic disparities and help to encourage continuous innovation in therapeutic approaches that, when proven successful at the local level, can benefit Americans across the nation. As a single, independent agency with local advisory boards, the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness competes with itself to provide the best services rather than with other hospitals or medical providers. In addition to the traditional medical model, regional advisory boards can also help introduce the most cutting-edge, whole-person approaches to health and wellness, to include new staffing models that promote employee wellness and satisfaction, in addition to patient outcomes. 

 

Budget: How Will It Be Funded?

The most equitable way to guarantee adequate funding for the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness is for the United States to initiate a federal sales tax. This ensures all Americans have ownership over the system and participate in the funding of the service, regardless of employment or income status, or geographic location within the United States.

A flat rate sales tax of 10%, or a tiered-rate sales tax of 5-15%, would provide an initial budget of approximately $2 trillion per year under normal U.S. GDP estimates (specifically including the sale and transfer of stocks). As importantly, this payment model alleviates the monthly subscription and income payment-based burden from American workers and fixed-income retirees.

Consider for a moment the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) budget of £120 billion, which equates to approximately $145 billion in the United States. This budget allows for the NHS to provide health care services for upwards of 66 million people. To provide a similar service in the United States, scaled for population size, the United States would need to provide five (5) times the funding, or $725 billion to serve approximately 330 million Americans.

A $2 trillion budget would advance the United States’ health care system beyond anything available today. It would allow the system to provide for chronic treatment, prescriptions, medical and mental health care, assisted living, and even medically related transportation. The initial budget would also allow for the United States to purchase existing facilities from the private sector, or to build new facilities as needed to serve 100% of American communities.

 

Sample Year 1 Budget for the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness

The USCPHW will have an initial annual budget of $2 trillion. 

Staff: $700 billion*
Facilities: $300 billion**
Medical Equipment/Supplies: $500 billion***
Drugs: $500 billion****

*An average salary of $75,000.00 per year would allow the United States to employ 9.3 million health care professionals, which also includes auxiliary workers such as medically-related transportation providers, health care aides, and more. **Building two brand new hospitals in each state per year would still be less than the allocated amount. ***This budget allows the USCPHW to not only purchase equipment and supplies, but to continue to invest in research and technology development to ensure Americans receive the best and latest technologies. ***This budget would allow USCPHW to not only provide many prescriptions and treatments at no cost to patients, but to invest in continued research and development of treatments, vaccines and other medicines. 

 

Key Benefits of the New Funding Model

Specifically, a federal sales tax model eliminates several cost burdens for Americans, taxpayers, employers, states and the United States government. The direct service universal health care model eliminates the Medicare tax, the need for Medicaid, monthly insurance premiums, co-pays, “out-of-pocket” expenses, service and treatment denials, and “hidden costs”, such as higher auto and homeowner’s insurance policies. In addition, as Americans are guaranteed health care services regardless of employment, income or geographic location in the United States, employers have the opportunity to turn current health care benefits into direct wages.

Perhaps one of the most important benefits, however, is the removal of what is known as perverse incentives from the health care industry. Specifically, health care providers in the private industry earn income when people are sick. This means they have no choice but to rely on illness and injury to earn a profit. The United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness, on the other hand, is the one business in the United States that has a vested financial interest in keeping people healthy. This means it must provide the most effective and efficient services to ensure Americans get back to good health as quickly as possible. Simply put, by providing high impact prevention and basic services, the United States will save money by keeping people healthy. Shareholders, which in this case would be taxpayers, celebrate when the United States Corporation for Public Health & Wellness can lower taxes and decrease its budget because so many Americans are healthy and well.