Far from it. I was merely addressing the points you raised. And you either didn't or won't stop to consider the 'why' before making a judgement about how I supposedly hate the private sector - considering I've spent most of my life there.

Believe me, I'm no fan of the way government works here in many ways and, to me, the first part of the problem is the implementation of civil service rules that prevent incompetent idiots from getting fired.

I've worked in the medical field (on the business side) and in the financial sector (mutual fund companies). I make a living writing software and doing the analytical thinking to design systems and workflow. Everything in there is a series of cause and effect decisions. That's why I was saying that not ALL of your points could come true at once.

You can't have the rising premiums to cover the uninsured if they're going to be covered by the rising taxes to cover the uninsured. It doesn't go both ways. If you don't cover the uninsured with taxes, then, yes, one can easily see how premiums will continue going up.

But it doesn't answer the question of WHY we pay so much, more than anyone else, and get so little, comparatively, in return. Why does France come out at the top of the pile? Conversely, if "the public option" is so good and gets forwarded all the way to "socialized medicine", how come Canada and the UK are NOT at the top of the quality charts?

We could follow France and Switzerland's example - and Switzerland only came up with their solution in 1994 - and improve upon it. But to do that I think there has to be a change in thinking for some people. In no particular order:

1) Doctors are not "Gods". They're smart. They're skilled. But everyone dies. Eventually. Sometimes it's tragic - like when a newborn has some congenital problem that keeps it from thriving. People can't always demand the most extreme or low-percentage measures out of desperation.

2) Mistakes are made. This is why the doctor sends you for 40 different tests, most of which you don't need. Because some blood-sucking lawyer is just waiting to capitalize on the *possibility* of an oversight and the doc is doing CYA maneuvers constantly.

3) Sick people should not be treated as a "growth industry". This means you can't look at patients as profit centers.

4) Stop clogging up the nurses desk with hundreds of people calling about the latest purple pill and if it's right for them. If your ad (like the one I just saw for Chanix, which is supposed to help you stop smoking) has to include disclaimers like "you may become suicidal" YOU DON'T GET TO ADVERTISE TO THE PUBLIC. It used to be that companies advertised in medical journals and the doctors - you know, the people who actually have to SEE the patients and WRITE the prescriptions - made the decisions.

5) Enforce transparency. Put the company contributions to health insurance premiums right there in the paycheck and make the subscriber write the check to the insurance company. I predict that a lot of people who are "satisfied" with their plans might have a change of heart.

6) Stop paying all the R&D freight for the rest of the world. There's something wrong when someone in Canada or Germany can get the same drug in their country for pennies on the dollar compared to what I have to pay. ...and while we're at it, stop hyping the latest drug that has the slightly modified molecule and pushing that on the dotorsa and forgetting about the cheaper stuff so that we all end up paying higher co-pays.

7) Let us know which doctors suck. The "code of silence" and "confidentiality agreements" that hide bad doctors from the rest of us are criminal, IMO.

When you hear things like how the profits (even in this economy) that health insurance companies make - JUST THE PROFITS - would pay for Medicare coverage for the uninsured...

When you hear about people paying into the system with their premiums for their entire lives and then, when disaster strikes, the company cuts them off..

When it was your job to write the systems that tried to recover the money from medical bills before writing them off to a collection agency.. Yeah, that was my job. Believe me, I heard a LOT of stories that came back from the collectors.

I have NO qualms - ZERO - ZIP - NADA - with a doctor making a decent living or any health-care provider, for that matter. What I *do* have a problem with are people that provide NO added value to the 'product' making profits. It's not like the CEO of a car company who can organize a team that designs and builds a better car. "Health" is not something that can be managed like a factory floor.