No Mercy / No Malice: Less for More

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

The episode dissects the structural failures of the U.S. healthcare system, arguing that rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs are driven by constrained supply rather

Key takeaways

• Employer-sponsored premiums are projected to rise 11% this year, the steepest increase in two decades and triple the rate of inflation.
• Yale economist Zach Cooper and UW professor Stuart Craig found that health spending growth accounted for 91% of average premium increases between 2011 and 2024.

Main topics

• Employer-sponsored health insurance
• Supply-side healthcare reform

Notable quotes

"This isn't a labor shortage. It's an oversupply of red tape."

Conclusion

The episode concludes that sustainable healthcare reform requires expandin

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) you I'm Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice. Nearly 165 million Americans receive health insurance through their employers. This year, premiums are expected to rise by 11%. Speaker 1 (0:18) As healthcare costs rise, demand-side solutions result in higher prices and reduced benefits. It's time to look at the supply side of the equation. Less for more, as read by George Hahn. Speaker 2 (0:42) In my next life, I'm coming back as a Navy SEAL, Broadway dancer, or chiropractor. However, in this life, I should have gone into insurance. Yeah, insurance. If you meet someone who has meddling IQ, exceptional EQ, and is making $600,000 a year, there's a decent chance they are in insurance. This industry thrives by tapping into an instinct, fear. We'll gladly suffer a series of guaranteed losses to avoid the possibility of a catastrophic one. Nowhere is this more evident than with health insurance. Of the wealthy nations at this year's World Cup, the U.S. is the only one that doesn't guarantee health care. In many industrialized nations, employers play a small role via payroll deductions in funding universal coverage. But only in America is employment tied directly to that coverage, meaning employers can shift rising health care costs to labor, while workers who lose their job also lose their coverage. Speaker 2 (1:58) For people under 65, employer-sponsored plans are the leading source of health insurance, providing benefits to approximately 165 million American workers and their families. Without reducing benefits, premiums for employer-sponsored plans are projected to increase this year by an average of 11 % year-on-year. the steepest rise in two decades and more than three times the rate of inflation. Profg Media's premiums are increasing 9 % year-on-year. We're seeing a slightly smaller jump thanks to the professional employer organization that handles our payroll, taxes, etc., allowing a firm like ours with fewer than 50 employees to participate in a larger plan. Meanwhile, many companies are shifting a greater share of their costs to their employees. with the average worker paying 8 % more year-on-year to cover higher payroll deductions for premiums and out-of-pocket charges, including deductibles and co-pays. If you're getting the feeling that America's private health insurance market is a drag on businesses and workers, trust your instincts. Speaker 2 (3:18) When a market fails, our tendency is to provide demand-side subsidies. If health care is unaffordable, the logic goes we should subsidize access, helping more companies and people pay for it. The demand-side approach feels morally right, directing help toward those who need it. But because demand-side solutions do nothing to control costs, subsidies are akin to pouring fuel on a flame. Actually, it's worse than that. Between 2011 and 2024, the average insurance premium increased by $3,143, 78%, while health spending per person rose by $2,844, 84%, according to an analysis by Yale economist Zach Cooper and University of Wisconsin Business School