Words & Numbers
Words & Numbers
Free the People
Episode 498: Politicians Broke Health Insurance
1 hour 5 minutes Posted Feb 17, 2026 at 12:00 pm.
Introduction and Overview
Words and Numbers Backstage & Listener Shoutouts
The Netherlands’ 36% Tax on Unrealized Gains
Who Can Afford Risk Under a Wealth-Style Tax?
Florida Snow & Strange Weather
Foolishness of the Week: The Mecklenburg Sheriff
Dave Greene Introduction: Health Insurance Insider Perspective
Why Health Insurance Feels So Frustrating
Is the System Designed to Make You Give Up?
Why Health Care Prices Stay Hidden
The $1,600 MRI vs. $200 MRI Problem
Negotiating Medical Bills (Yes, You Can)
The Affordable Care Act and Incentive Distortions
Health Insurance Profit Margins Explained
1950s Health Care vs. Today’s Innovation
Why Insurance Companies Get the Blame
Medicare vs. Private Insurance Subsidies
Guest Outro and Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Show notes
In this episode, we discuss the Netherlands’ proposed 36% tax on unrealized capital gains, unpacking what it means to tax wealth that exists only on paper and how such a policy could force asset sales, distort investment behavior, and reshape long-term incentives for savers and entrepreneurs. For our Foolishness of the Week, we turn to North Carolina, where a local official distinguished himself as perhaps the dumbest sheriff in America. We then welcome Dave Greene for an extended conversation on health insurance, exploring how risk pooling actually works, why medical pricing feels arbitrary, how regulation and the Affordable Care Act altered incentives for insurers and patients, and why price opacity and third-party payment continue to drive costs higher across the system.
01:01:35 Guest Outro and Closing Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices