I was walking through the room the other night while my wife was watching Family Feud. Yes, she’s a college-educated woman, but she loves Steve Harvey and Family Feud. Anyway, in the “final” feud, I hear Steve Harvey ask, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your health insurance?” I froze in my tracks to watch and listen. The first contestant answered “5,” and the second answered “4.” The two answers received less than 10 votes out of a possible 100.  Steve then proclaimed, “The number 1 answer was 1!”

I’m not sure Family Feud should be our industry’s best satisfaction survey source. However, ignoring how people really feel about their health insurance is a path to destruction. I don’t believe that a President Hillary Clinton or a President Donald Trump would do much to healthcare in a first term because touching this sensitive subject in a first term would likely mean there would be a new president after only four years.

The extreme left seems to believe health insurance companies are to blame and that only the government can solve it. The extreme right seems to believe overly-entitled consumers are to blame and that only enhanced consumer tools and responsibility can solve it. I don’t believe either extreme is correct. The answer lies in a positive connection between the public and private healthcare systems.

The biggest political activity regarding healthcare is on the state level, where Colorado voters will decide between a single-payer state government run system and their current system on the ballot in November. It’s called Amendment 69 or “ColoradoCare.” If one more Coloradan votes for single payer than rejects it, then we’ll have a test case for socialized medical insurance for all citizens in a state below age 65.  If Family Feud is any indication, the vote in Colorado may be much closer than some insurance and hospital experts seem to believe.

Do you agree? What are your thoughts? I’d love to talk this out with you. Comment below and let’s start a conversation!