American Competitiveness and Health Insurance

Is America getting less competitive because its citizens lack health insurance?

Entrepreneurs have made America great. They have embraced and monetized new ideas and created world beating companies. However, how many of these entrepreneurs have been held back because they become too scared to take a risk? A risk of going out on one's own without the safety net of a health insurance?

It is one thing for a brilliant 18 year old in great health to start a fantastic company. What about the bright 40 year old with two kids who has plodded through his job and obtained a knowledge he feels he can profit from. A realistic assessment would show a probability of failure, but that is not what stops him. What does stop him is the possibility that until his idea makes it, he will be placing his family at risk by forsaking medical insurance.

How many such entrepreneurs exist in this country and is there any hope for them?

One might argue that entrepreneurism without risk is an oxymoron. But if a sense of responsibility prevails that prevents a would be entrepreneur from following her dream because it may put her family at risk by striking out on her own, the country as a whole has lost.