About half of all employees in the United States say that they’re not as happy at their jobs as they could be.1 About 13% say they’re extremely unhappy or dissatisfied with their jobs. 33% of all U.S. workers say the only reason they don’t quit their current employment is because they don’t know what they would do about healthcare. 2
Do you find yourself in one of the above situations?
A good number of people also say that they would love to start their own business, go after a long-held dream, or try branching out on their own when it comes to work, but, again, they don’t make the move because of their concerns about health care. For a generation of workers who know more than ever about their personal strengths, talents, and who say they crave a better work/life balance, it seems even more unfortunate that they find themselves stuck in jobs that are unsatisfying and held back from the kind of work that would be most meaningful to them.
“If you find what you do each day seems to have no link to any higher purpose, you probably want to rethink what you’re doing.”
Ronald Heifetz
Fortunately, there are several healthcare market interrupters that can change your trajectory as you consider what path you want to take in the upcoming year. Open enrollment is almost upon us, starting in most states on November 1st and running until early January of 2026. This is the time of year employees are presented with what traditional health insurance options they have for the upcoming year. This is also the time of year that, for people who have decided they want to make a change in their employment, they are now looking ahead to their healthcare choices, since August, September, and October are the top months of the year in which people resign from a current job. 3 Put it all together, and you’ll likely be hearing lots of conversations about health care, its role in job choices and opportunities, and how it could impact 2026.
📋 Internal Inventory: Time is a limited resource. We know it, but we don’t always live like it. What are some things you’ve dreamed of doing? How close are you to doing some of those things? Understandably, not everything that is a life goal is vocation-oriented, but there are some things when it comes to career and lasting impact that deserve a second look. Does your current work drain you? Do you find that you have less energy and attention to give to those people in your life who mean the most to you? How would you say your mental health is doing? Do you have enough energy left over at the end of the work day to get in a workout? Asking yourself important questions about your current lifestyle and your work’s relationship to how your life is going can help bring clarity to your next steps.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay a foundation and are not able to finish, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build but wasn’t able to finish.'” Luke 14:28-30 NIV
🪜Baby Steps, Big Leaps: When you know you need to make a change, but you know that will also entail some really big decisions, some hard conversations, and a few lifestyle adjustments, it can make the process seem too complicated to even consider. However, neuroscience shows us that when we’re willing to take a small step toward big change, it gives us a form of compounding interest; when our brain learns that we can make a small step, it makes taking the next step easier. 4 “We are not helpless,” writes Wayne Gerard Trotman. “We all have the ability to make this world a better place. We can start with small steps, one day at a time.”
If one of your immediate objections to making a change in your work life is your concern about healthcare, engaging in a few short sessions to learn more about your current healthcare and what other options exist could be a huge move forward in going toward your goals. While it’s understandable that if you’ve only known about traditional insurance, you might think it’s the only option, the reality is that there are other ways to take care of your healthcare costs. Learning about this can go a long way in helping you make big decisions in the upcoming year.
🏁 Put Yourself Back in the Driver’s Seat: 65% of people say they feel stuck in their current jobs. Sometimes they’re fairly content with their current work but wish they had a clear path forward, and sometimes they’re fairly unhappy in their work. Whichever position they find themselves in, one thing is clear; they don’t feel like they have the wheel when it comes to their next opportunity, their schedule, and their momentum forward.
When you remove the objection about healthcare from the conversation, when you find a solution that allows you to think outside of the typical employment-scenario box, you may find a world of possibility opening up. Additionally, knowing that you have healthcare options beyond what your current employer offers allows you to get back in the driver’s seat of your own future. No longer are you bound to that one factor as to making the determination on how to spend your days.
A health share like Altrua HealthShare is a powerful model of what sharing in medical needs with a community of like-minded people can do. Entrepreneurs, ministry leaders, musicians, artists, innovators, and small business owners are just a few examples of the kinds of people who have created a new future for themselves, with a health care option intact. In addition to health shares, a few other exciting healthcare options now exist. Telehealth has been a big change in recent years to receiving timely and affordable care: Altrua HealthShare includes telehealth in its memberships. Partnerships with vision care, pharmacy, dental care, and lab work help keep costs low: Altrua HealthShare is partnered with Careington to help provide significant discounts. Altrua HealthShare is not insurance. It is a group of people who all agree to a Statement of Standards, who all make a monthly contribution to the Member Escrow. From this escrow, eligible medical needs are shared in. It’s an affordable, flexible, and customizable way to make sure your healthcare is working for you…not the other way around.
This open enrollment season, do yourself a favor and ask yourself what’s standing in your way from living out the career you want to build and the life you want to experience. If healthcare is the main thing that’s been standing in your way, consider that you do have options. Altrua HealthShare is here to help you understand if being part of a health share makes sense for you and for the future you want to build. You can contact a Member Services Representative with any questions you have about your current membership or how to become a Member at 1-888-244-3839.
1 https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/12/10/job-satisfaction/#:~:text=Half%20of%20U.S.%20workers%20say,all%20satisfied%20with%20their%20job.
2 https://qz.com/2082849/one-in-three-americans-would-quit-if-it-wasnt-for-healthcare
3 https://startups.co.uk/news/most-employees-quit-in-august/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20August%2C%20September%20and,the%20end%20of%20the%20year.&text=Business%20owners%20might%20have%20expected,resignation%20letters%20for%20Valentine’s%20cards.
4 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5854216/