HEALTH5 is a proposal, not current law. This site makes the case for Congress to enact it. What lawmakers would vote on.
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Sources and evidence

Every number on this site comes from public data or from the HEALTH5 proposal itself. Here is where each one comes from.

Public data

  1. CMS, National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet (2024 data)Total 2024 spending of $5.3 trillion and $15,474 per person; hospital, physician and drug spending; Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance totals; sponsor shares.
  2. CMS, National Health Expenditures 2024 Highlights (PDF)Sponsor shares: households 28%, private business 18%, federal 31%, state and local 16%.
  3. CMS, National Health Expenditure historical dataDetailed 2024 spending by category used in the reconciliation tool.
  4. Medical Economics, Health care spending reaches $5.3 trillion, or 18% of U.S. economy, in 2024 (Jan. 14, 2026)Health spending at 18% of GDP; hospitals $1.6 trillion, physician and clinical $1.1 trillion, drugs $467 billion.
  5. KFF, 2025 Employer Health Benefits SurveyAverage 2025 employer single premium of $9,325 a year, with workers paying $1,440 of it.
  6. CMS, About Administrative SimplificationCMS: standardized electronic transactions let the industry automate billing and payment, saving time and health care dollars.
  7. CMS, Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F)CMS's move toward APIs and standardized data exchange to automate prior authorization between payers and providers.
  8. U.S. Department of Labor, AI skills website and AI-focused Registered Apprenticeships (Apr. 29, 2026)Federal AI skill-building resources, including health care, and AI Registered Apprenticeship programs.
  9. CMS, Market Rating ReformsCurrent ACA rule: individual and small-group premiums may vary only by age, tobacco use, family size and geography.
  10. CMS, Your rights and protections against surprise medical bills (No Surprises Act notice, PDF)Current federal surprise-billing protections, which HEALTH5 would extend to all covered care.
  11. U.S. Department of Labor, Health Plans and Benefits (ERISA)ERISA sets protections and fiduciary standards for employer-sponsored health plans, which HEALTH5 legislation would need to address.
  12. Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare Plan, 2024 Form 5500 with audited financial statements (PDF, 77 MB)2024 employer contributions of $4.54 billion, benefits paid of $3.76 billion, administration of $204 million, about 227,000 active participants and 811 employers.
  13. UPS National Master Agreement 2023–2028 (PDF)Article 34: health and welfare and pension contribution increases, TeamCare coverage and long-term disability benefits.
  14. CMS, Medical Loss Ratio fact sheetLarge-group insurers must spend at least 85% of premiums on care and quality improvement; small-group and individual at least 80%.
  15. U.S. Department of Labor, EFAST2 Form 5500 filing systemPublic access to annual reports filed by employee benefit plans.
  16. Health Care Cost Institute 2023 report, as summarized: Health Care Spending for People with Employer-Sponsored Insurance Reached $6,743 Per Person in 2023Employer-coverage spending of $6,743 per person in 2023, with hospital facility charges of $3,100.
  17. Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, How has U.S. spending on healthcare changed over time?2024 shares of national spending: hospitals 31.0%, physicians and clinics 21.0%, prescription drugs 8.8%, administration 7.0%.
  18. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Straight Facts on Teamster DuesTeamster dues formula: monthly dues of 2.5 times the base hourly rate.
  19. Teamsters Local 399, 2023 Local 399 Dues IncreaseArticle X of the Teamsters International Constitution: monthly minimum of 2.5 times the hourly rate.
  20. CBS News, UPS drivers to make $170,000 in pay and benefitsFull-time UPS drivers to average $49 an hour by the end of the 2023–2028 contract.
  21. Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, How do health expenditures vary across the population?In 2023, people 55 and over were 30% of the population and 57% of health spending.
  22. IRS Publication 15, Employer's Tax GuideMedicare tax of 1.45% for employees and 1.45% for employers, with no wage-base limit.

The proposal

The policy design comes from the UR2Big HEALTH5 Comprehensive Research and Policy Proposal (November 2026). That compilation includes the $800 monthly cost model (OnePayerSystem.com has since set the ceiling at $832 to match the Central States benchmark), a critical policy and actuarial analysis, a presidential policy review brief, the workforce transition study, the National Health Expenditure Reconciliation Model workbook and an evaluation rubric.

Funding figures (the $832 ceiling, $125 and $707), the 340 million population example, and the 500,000 workforce target are planning assumptions from the proposal. They are not findings from the sources above, and they need full actuarial validation.

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