Richie: On average, over 50% of a person's lifetime medical costs will happen in their last 2 years of life. Can you imagine how much your BC/BS plan will cost later on in your 60s & 70s?

Since private insurers have a tendency to kick people off their plans once they are no longer profitable (their first loyalty being to the shareholders), who would insure my 90-year-old grandmother or even my 66-year-old mother?

This is the problem with a 100%-private plan under the rules that corporations operate these days. Of course there are problems galore with 100%-public plans but it would *appear* that hybrid plans (like France and Switzerland have) work better.