There are two things — and maybe only two things — we can say for certain about America’s healthcare system: No one seems to like it and no one really seems to understand how it works. Why the confusion? A big part of the issue is probably the many of the most common talking points about healthcare are wrong.

For instance: some say American healthcare is driven by heartless capitalism. Other say it’s bureaucratic socialism. The real answer: neither one is right — because our system isn’t nearly that coherent. In 2021, about 1/3 of Americans got their healthcare from the government, but the other 2/3 had private insurance. Yet, in practice, the public and private sectors are constantly overlapping, meaning most people don’t live purely in either world.

Then there’s the claim that Americans pay more for healthcare than people in the rest of the world but get worse outcomes. There’s a lot of data to suggest that’s true — but also a lot to suggest that the reason it’s happening is because Americans live more dangerous lives, not because they get worse treatment. Finally, there’s the notion that the only alternative to America’s healthcare system is a single-payer model of the type used in the U.K. and Canada. In reality, however, many countries around the world manage to cover their populations without turning healthcare over entirely to the government. Can America develop a better healthcare system? A good start would be understanding what’s really going on with the one we already have and take a closer look at Health Sharing