Saum Sutaria, M.D.

The employer-sponsored insurance system was already entrenched because of the tax benefits that existed.

The employer-sponsored insurance system was already entrenched because of the tax benefits that existed.

That is right. And so that was entrenched. And why does that matter? I think this is an important point about our belief in consumerism and choice. The marketplace provides choice in a way that many of the nationalized healthcare systems that exist in other countries don't.

That is right. And so that was entrenched. And why does that matter? I think this is an important point about our belief in consumerism and choice. The marketplace provides choice in a way that many of the nationalized healthcare systems that exist in other countries don't.

And if you really look at many of those other countries, while they have a nationalized healthcare system that purportedly has universal coverage, they also have a private system that no differently than ours, where people with more means can procure better insurance and better access and a private healthcare system, etc. It's just not as widespread as it is here.

And if you really look at many of those other countries, while they have a nationalized healthcare system that purportedly has universal coverage, they also have a private system that no differently than ours, where people with more means can procure better insurance and better access and a private healthcare system, etc. It's just not as widespread as it is here.

In this country, there was a belief that was institutionalized by incentives that employer-sponsored insurance was working. And remember, at that time, it wasn't that expensive. Meaning employers often covered 100% of the premium. So the employee did not end up having to contribute like they do today to the cost of their insurance as an employee that they're receiving from their employer.

In this country, there was a belief that was institutionalized by incentives that employer-sponsored insurance was working. And remember, at that time, it wasn't that expensive. Meaning employers often covered 100% of the premium. So the employee did not end up having to contribute like they do today to the cost of their insurance as an employee that they're receiving from their employer.

It was a comfortable system, if you imagine, at the time. And based upon the system, you got choice. Which product do I want? What kind of network do I want? Et cetera. What happened as a result of that expanding, especially employer-sponsored insurance expanding, is that insurance moved from being an individual product based upon your or my individual risk to group insurance.

It was a comfortable system, if you imagine, at the time. And based upon the system, you got choice. Which product do I want? What kind of network do I want? Et cetera. What happened as a result of that expanding, especially employer-sponsored insurance expanding, is that insurance moved from being an individual product based upon your or my individual risk to group insurance.

What are you doing with employer-sponsored insurance? You're aggregating all the employees and all their risk, and you're socializing that risk among the whole group and saying, look, in order to protect each of you individually, we're going to share the risk as a group.

What are you doing with employer-sponsored insurance? You're aggregating all the employees and all their risk, and you're socializing that risk among the whole group and saying, look, in order to protect each of you individually, we're going to share the risk as a group.

We're going to buy the insurance collectively, and it'll spread the risk among us to avoid individual catastrophic loss from a healthcare perspective, expenditure perspective. That's what we did. We socialized in group insurance. That was a big move in the insurance industry as employer-sponsored insurance took off.

We're going to buy the insurance collectively, and it'll spread the risk among us to avoid individual catastrophic loss from a healthcare perspective, expenditure perspective. That's what we did. We socialized in group insurance. That was a big move in the insurance industry as employer-sponsored insurance took off.

Of course, Medicare, the concept of Medicare itself by bringing all seniors together was also socialization of healthcare costs across all seniors. Not all seniors spend equivalently, as you can imagine. So that was one. What happened on the other side is absolutely a story of incredible innovation over the last 50 to 75 years in healthcare.

Of course, Medicare, the concept of Medicare itself by bringing all seniors together was also socialization of healthcare costs across all seniors. Not all seniors spend equivalently, as you can imagine. So that was one. What happened on the other side is absolutely a story of incredible innovation over the last 50 to 75 years in healthcare.

And we can all debate what's resulted from that, but development and maturity of the Development and maturity of the medical device industry, innovation in procedures and services that have allowed people to have invasive procedures in manners that used to hospitalize people for three weeks and now it could be three days.

And we can all debate what's resulted from that, but development and maturity of the Development and maturity of the medical device industry, innovation in procedures and services that have allowed people to have invasive procedures in manners that used to hospitalize people for three weeks and now it could be three days.

And in some cases, if you're having a knee or hip replaced, it's at best three hours in and out the door. is amazing. And yet the impact of that, along with the socialization of healthcare costs, and therefore removing the individual from understanding or feeling that cost directly, because they're insured, together was a virtuous cycle that just drove up consumption.

And in some cases, if you're having a knee or hip replaced, it's at best three hours in and out the door. is amazing. And yet the impact of that, along with the socialization of healthcare costs, and therefore removing the individual from understanding or feeling that cost directly, because they're insured, together was a virtuous cycle that just drove up consumption.