Thinking Big: CEOs and their Health Care Coverage

Today, the Affordable Care Act turns eight. Americans have spent ten years arguing about it. Some people think that the act, commonly known as Obamacare, went too far. Others think it didn’t go far enough. What would Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” think?

Now we know that the CEOs of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase want to fix health care for their employees. Why? It’s expensive. But nearly half of all Americans depend on their employers for coverage, including most CEOs.

What happens to their coverage when their lives change? For example:

• What if Amazon’s Mr. Bezos was a warehouse worker making less than $30,000 per year?
• What about Berkshire Hathaway’s Mr. Buffett, who is now 87 years old?
• What if JPMorgan Chase’s Mr. Dimon decides to retire?

A new job. A lower income. A year older. A pending retirement. When their lives change, most Americans, including these CEOs, may also have to change their health care coverage. Why? Because in the U.S., we have four health insurance systems: Employer, Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare.

What if we had only one? Countries like Switzerland do it well and cheaper. It certainly would be easier for consumers, insurers and providers, as well as employers. And once everyone is in one system, other issues that drive access, cost and quality should be easier to address and more likely to succeed.

Even under the best of circumstances, the transition will take years. It will be hard. Americans will argue. But if the country had started this effort ten years ago, it might be being implemented today. Now that would be thinking big. Here’s to the CEOs and their success.

Source: The Thinker photo was taken at the “Rodin: Sculptor and Storyteller” exhibit in the Art Institute of Chicago.