re: #13 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Unfortunately, most politicians (and almost all voters) seem to be unable to distinguish between “single-payer”, like Canada and Medicare, and “single-provider”, like the UK and the VA.

Now any system can be run efficiently or inefficiently—and I for one do not believe the negative stories about the NHS emanating from the Usual Suspects™—but from an ethical point of view, I consider single-provider the only defensible system. Insurance delenda est!

There was a study put up here not too long ago about the different successful systems. The only thing they had in common - some were private insurance, some were single payer, some single provider - is that the government negotiated rates on behalf of the people.