If we want more entrepreneurship in America, the fastest way to get there is via the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) that’s currently being held hostage in Washington.

I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire adult life, apart from breaks for sleeping. I’ve worked with other entrepreneurs, and would-be entrepreneurs, and should-be entrepreneurs, in organizations of varied sizes.

And I’m tired of the health insurance discussion being hijacked on supposed business grounds by propagandists from the chambers of commerce with their inherent conflict of interest as hawkers of insurance themselves.

And by the suddenly-so-concerned-about-healthcare-costs extremist critics. And by the primitive scare tactics of the people who think any kind of safety net (incl. social security) equates with socialism — whatever they picture “socialism” as.

These groups and individuals either don’t know, or have forgotten, or are willfully misrepresenting the realities of creating a business and working in one.

There are untold millions of would-be entrepreneurs in the U.S. hanging on, in quiet desperation, to deadening corporate jobs–because they can’t afford to leave. Millions who understand the catastrophic consequences of boldly heading out to uncharted entrepreneurial territory… only to have someone in the family develop a chronic illness or life-threatening condition.

Or who already have — themselves, or their kid, or their spouse — developed an acute or chronic illness, and thus can’t afford to quit a corporate job without destroying their family’s savings within a few months.

(And talk about an “inheritance tax” in today’s landscape if you die without sufficient insurance: The vast majority of healthcare expenses occurring in the last few months of life, underinsurance has been frequently leaving middle class and even upper middle class families suddenly and utterly destitute.)

Imagine the creative and economic boon when all of this talent and energy is released from the corporate tethers that bind it. It will be remarkable.

The US is the only developed Western nation without a functioning safety net. And people are falling hard without one.

And one more thing:

Next time your kid is concussed on the soccer field, wouldn’t it be nice if she could get treated in an ER that is being used only as an ER, not a clinic of last resort filled with the uninsured?

And one more “one more thing”:

Next time you go out for dinner, wouldn’t it be comforting to know your sushi wasn’t prepared for you by someone whose hepatitis is undiagnosed, because they couldn’t afford to see a doctor?

These are the stakes, and they’re deadly serious.

To read more from Micah Solomon go to Obamacare