HEALTHCARE: The System We Should Have... And The One We're Trapped In

How America Ended Up With the Worst Best Healthcare in the Developed World… and What Comes Next Whether We Like It or Not

HEALTHCARE: The System We Should Have…And The One We’re Trapped In

How America Ended Up With the Worst Best Healthcare in the Developed World… and What Comes Next Whether We Like It or Not

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.

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 what eventually forces the change anyway.

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.”

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 (And Who It’s Built For)

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:

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 high-cost…low-elasticity…essential service.

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? (Here’s the knife twist.)

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

It is designed around private interests.

And those private interests profit most when:

• 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.

So What Changes It?

I’ll say something now that you’re likely going to see come true in your lifetime:

The U.S. eventually adopts a universal core system…
not because politicians champion it…
but because the math makes it unavoidable.

Here are the forces that guarantee this:

1. Employer-based insurance is collapsing.

Premiums…are too high.
Small businesses…can’t keep up.
Companies are ditching benefits…to cut costs.
Millions lose coverage…when they switch jobs.

This entire structure is crumbling.

2. Healthcare spending is heading toward 25% of GDP.

No advanced nation can sustain that.

The system either reforms…or breaks.

3. Younger voters overwhelmingly support universal systems.

Gen Z and Millennials will dominate the electorate.

4. Rural hospitals are collapsing.

The federal government WILL have to intervene.

5. Chronic disease is exploding.

Diabetes…heart disease…obesity…all require coordinated…preventative systems.

Market-based systems cannot handle epidemics.

6. Private insurance is financially unsustainable.

High deductibles.
Narrow networks.
More denials.
Less coverage.
Higher out-of-pocket costs.

People are already fed up.

7. A major national health crisis will force the shift.

COVID was only the preview.
The real forcing event…is still ahead.

THE ODDS OF ADOPTION

• Next 10 years: 0–5%

• Next 20–30 years: 20–35%

• Next 40–50 years: 60–80%

The long-term outcome is inevitable.

The short-term path is blocked by:

• money

• power

• corporate capture

• political messaging

• donor class interests

• a dysfunctional Congress

• manufactured fear

But Here’s Where You Come In (And Why This Matters Now)

You don’t need to wait for Congress.

You don’t need to wait…for a president.

You don’t even need to wait…for a political party…to grow a spine.

Americans who understand what’s coming can position themselves now:

• emotionally

• financially

• politically

• socially

• personally

Because when the next healthcare crisis hits…and it will…
the shift begins…from the ground up.

And the people who understand the terrain….will not be caught off guard.

The U.S. healthcare collapse is not a question of if.

It’s a question of timing.

And when systems shift…the people who own the narrative win.

That’s why you’re reading this.

The Part They Don’t Want the General Public Reading

You just read the “outside the paywall” version of this argument.

But the paid edition goes deeper…and hits where people actually live:

*How the U.S. healthcare system weaponizes confusion

*The coming collapse of employer-based insurance

*Why the shutdown and the current administration accelerate the shift

*A 10-year forecast of the political battles ahead

*What will replace the current structure (and the triggers that force it)

*How families can protect themselves financially and medically

*What you should expect when the pivot finally hits

*The hidden players shaping the system from the shadows

*And why authoritarian movements fear universal healthcare

(because healthy citizens can’t be controlled the same way)

If the free version gives you clarity…

The paid version gives you the armor.

Unlock it below.

The People Who Make Independent Truth Possible

If you’re already a paid subscriber…thank you.

You’re the reason this newsletter can stay independent…sharp…and fearless.

If you’re not yet part of the inner circle…

…and you want:

• the deep breakdowns

• the strategy

• the protection

• the psychological armor

• the political clarity

• the real talk no other outlet will publish

…then this is the moment to join.

The world is getting louder.
The truth is getting buried.
And the people who stay clear-headed are the ones who stay defend the truth…and those who tell it.

Upgrade below.

You’re going to need what comes next.

If nothing else…let this be your reminder that you’re stronger…steadier…and more capable…than the times around you.

Most people drift. You choose to engage. Most people panic. You choose clarity. Most people surrender. You choose to prepare. That matters…more than you know.

Back soon,

-Jack

P.S. You’re part of a very small group of people….who wants to understand what’s really happening. That alone puts you ahead of 99% of the country.