Healthcare Overhaul Can Lead to Massive Entrepreneurial Surge

Brookfield, WI – The days of going to college and automatically getting a job are a thing of the past.  In the new economy, people need to have the right credentials and face stiff competition for high-paying positions.  They consider creating their own job, but without healthcare, they may shy away and never try.  Democrat Tom Palzewicz sees a way to get around the problem.

By reworking our healthcare system, Palzewicz envisions a new small business surge, as the American entrepreneurial spirit takes center stage in a new economy.

“If you look at the statistics, there is a heavy level of healthcare and financial anxiety in our country,” said Palzewicz, a small business owner.  Healthcare is tied to employment if you can land a job with benefits.  Without healthcare coverage, a person with dependents could not afford to branch out on their own and try a business.  If healthcare was treated as a human right instead of an employment benefit, think of how that would change the playing field.

“Without the burden of healthcare costs, people might reach out and try to create a new, private opportunity.  To frame this from a conservative perspective, the burden of healthcare costs is like a tax on business that hampers economic possibilities.  If we start to make adjustments and remove the restrictions, people will be more likely to venture out and take risks, knowing that their basic needs are covered.  People want to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, so make sure people have bootstraps.”

“The key pillars are education, healthcare, and a living wage, right? If you have those things, then anybody has a chance to be able to drive their life forward. But if you don’t have those things in place, it’s incredibly difficult for an individual to overcome one of those three circumstances, We’re the only industrialized country in the world where people go bankrupt because of their health.”

People do not necessarily fail because they made poor financial decisions. They don’t lose their house because they didn’t work hard.  Palzewicz says the fault lies elsewhere.

“It’s because they got sick,” Palzewicz noted. “The bootstrap index is also a really interesting metric.  How many generations would it take for a person born into a low-income family to reach the mean income in their respective countries? In America, it’s five generations.  In most European countries, like Sweden, it’s two or three.  The American dream is slipping away for so many people. Why? They got sick.”

“People still come to this country for a better life, but the dream is fading.  Yet you will see people cling to that dream and you will see people rally around the flag because the flag represents that ideal.  The fundamental underpinnings of a democracy allow people to dream and be able to have and pursue their dream. Yet we continue to deny people that opportunity through our macroeconomic plan, our healthcare plan and our education plan.”

Palzewicz has long advocated for a level playing field, which is not the case in America.

“There’s an old saying that says we all do better when we all DO better,” said Palzewicz. “That’s a myth. More of the gains of our $20 TRILLION economy go to the top. The Republicans made sure of that with their massive tax cuts for the ultra rich. How can we help pay for healthcare?  By having the top 1% pay their fair share like everybody else. Level the playing field and watch what’s possible for all of us.”

Palzewicz favors bolstering the Affordable Care Act (ACA, Obamacare), expanding Medicaid, and taking the healthcare burden off our citizens’ backs.

Palzewicz for Wisconsin

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.