Millions of Working Americans Locked Out of Usable Healthcare, CEO Warns

Healthcare executive John Theodore Zabasky is sounding the alarm about a critical but often overlooked crisis in America: millions of working people remain effectively locked out of usable healthcare despite being employed. As CEO of WorXsiteHR Insurance Solutions, Inc., Zabasky identifies the rapid expansion of part-time, seasonal, and gig-based labor as a key driver, noting that "the workforce has changed faster than our healthcare systems." He points to alarming statistics: nearly 40% of U.S. workers fall outside traditional full-time employment, and over 30 million Americans delay or avoid medical care each year due to cost. Zabasky argues that even having insurance doesn't guarantee access, as high deductibles and confusing plan structures often prevent people from seeking care, stating, "If people are afraid to use their insurance, the system has already failed."

Zabasky's company, WorXsiteHR Insurance Solutions, serves as the exclusive Third-Party Administrator for the HealthWorX Plan, a no-cost medical plan subsidized by a nonprofit to support lower-income, part-time, and seasonal workers. Through affiliated nonprofit efforts, his organization helps facilitate over $100 million annually in healthcare services and premiums. However, Zabasky emphasizes that the issue extends beyond any single company or plan, calling for a broader recognition that healthcare needs to be "simple, usable, and designed around how people actually live and work today." Drawing on his multidisciplinary background in history, business, and health sciences, he approaches healthcare as a systems problem, warning that "systems fail when they stop serving the people they were built for" and that "complexity benefits administrators, not patients."

Rather than waiting for sweeping policy reform, Zabasky advocates for practical, individual-level action. He encourages employers to explore alternative healthcare models for nontraditional workers, workers to ask direct questions about actual costs (not just coverage), communities to support nonprofits expanding healthcare access, and leaders to prioritize systems emphasizing usability over optics. With economic uncertainty continuing, Zabasky frames healthcare access as more than a benefits issue—it's a matter of workforce stability, dignity, and community health. His core message is that change doesn't require rebuilding the entire system but rather rejecting the notion that "this is how it's always been," as ensuring working people can care for their health stabilizes families, businesses, and communities.