Things are not always as they seem.
This is the Matterhorn—one of the most iconic mountains in the world. Standing at 14,692 feet, with over 500 lives lost attempting to summit it, it’s massive, dangerous, and awe-inspiring.
And yet—even standing right in front of it—it’s hard to truly grasp its scale.
Perspective changes everything.
I think this applies to so many areas of life… especially health insurance.
In the U.S., many of us were taught that having employer-based health insurance meant we had “made it.” I’ve had patients tell me they stayed in jobs they disliked for decades just to keep it.
But what if that perspective is incomplete?
Because just like the Matterhorn—what you’re seeing may not reflect the true scale of what you’re dealing with.
The system feels stable, necessary, even protective. But when you step back and really examine it, the size, complexity, and cost become much more apparent.
Health insurance premiums have not decreased in decades. Even using a conservative estimate of 7% annual growth, a family plan will be approaching $60,000 per year within the next 10 years—and that still doesn’t include rising deductibles, copays, or coinsurance.
At the same time:
- Physician reimbursement has decreased by over 25% in the past 10–20 years
- Imaging and lab costs have declined significantly
So where is the money going?
Part of the answer lies in how deeply conditioned we’ve become.
There’s something called normalcy bias—the tendency to believe things will continue as they always have, even when the data says otherwise.
There’s cognitive dissonance—that uncomfortable feeling when what we’re experiencing doesn’t match what we’ve always believed. So instead of questioning the system, we rationalize it.
And there’s system justification—our instinct to defend the very systems we depend on, even when they’re not serving us.
I felt this myself.
When I left my W-2 job, I remember feeling a sense of panic making the jump to Zion HealthShare—just one of many valid health sharing options.
Why?
It wasn’t logic.
Even with my knowledge of what things actually cost, I had been so conditioned to believe I couldn’t exist without a major insurance plan. That I would go bankrupt without Blue Cross, Cigna, United, or Aetna.
That there had to be a catch. A gimmick. Something unsafe.
Even though I knew—objectively—that wasn’t true.
That’s how powerful the conditioning is.
We’ve been taught since childhood that health insurance equals safety. And that belief has been reinforced by a system that inflates prices so dramatically, it creates fear.
Fear that keeps people compliant.
So the fear is real.
But the logic doesn’t always hold.
And that matters—because for many individuals and families, there are other options.
Health sharing organizations like Zion and Sharewell. Cooperative models. Direct care.
They’re not the right fit for everyone—but they are real, they are valid, and they are often far more aligned with transparency and actual cost.
And for employers—the landscape is even broader.
There are far more options than most business owners have ever been shown.
But here’s the part that rarely gets talked about:
The system is structured in a way that doesn’t always reward change.
Many brokers are compensated based on the total cost of the plan. So when premiums increase 7–11% each year, their commissions increase too—without requiring meaningful change in the structure of the plan.
That doesn’t make them bad people.
It means they are operating within a system that was built this way.
A system where maintaining the status quo is easier—and more financially aligned—than rethinking it.
But there are brokers, advisors, and organizations working differently.
There are ways to get educated.
There are more transparent, ethical, and sustainable models.
But you have to be willing to step back and see the full landscape.
Because once you see the full scale of something—whether it’s a mountain or a system—you can’t unsee it.
And from there, you get to choose your path more intentionally.
In peace and health,
Dr. Dana
