Once it was inevitable that a single payer system was not in the offing, this plan was put up to fail so the only other choice would be the single payer system.

I agree. I have long believed that the course of events would be: 1-HMO's=failure; 2-ACO's=failure; 3-Single payor system=socialized medicine=failure. In a country that has more people taking than contributing, we can't afford the level of care that people have come to expect and they will be disappointed with what they will get under a single payor system. Rational cost containment can be accomplished by the medical community if they are empowered to enact controls, but as long as big $$$$ can be generated by insurance companies, costs will continue to spiral up until the system collapses. most doctors are NOT greedy. there are some who are terribly greedy and they must be brought to task. but as long as the insurance companies tolerate abuses while pulling $$$billions out of the system in profits, the faults will continue. Government has only one strategy. They homogenize everything, create rooms full of rulebooks, spend trillions on bureaucracy, fail to achieve the tangible results intended, stifle creativity and ultimately fail miserably to address the needs of the people in a palatable fashion. we can and must do better. regional healthcare advisory boards with full time doctor and nurse panels can address the issues, prepare guidelines with teeth, develop OUTCOME based care plans and then cooperate with other regions in establishing national standards. It simply cannot start with a central government authority staffed by bureaucrats. When you plant a flower with a backhoe, you crush it before it has a chance to survive. we have a gifted and amazing medical workforce and we need to learn to steer it better. we do not need to paint it all gray and stencil U.S. Government on it. do you think that a government that pays $1000 for a toilet seat on a project can control costs?

Yeah, medicare works so poorly, and yet the medicare and VA systems seem to function better than private hospitals. On the other hand the emergency rooms crowded with patients who wait for ten to twelve hours for a service that could be treated in an outpatient clinic if they had insurance, is a real bummer. And those awful coverages in Europe and Canada where you never pay a dime, and where they call their government health care their national treasure, including for dental, hearing and eye treatment, what a disgrace. Yes, sarcasm is involved here. Only when you, or someone you love, face a tragedy, a triple bypass, or one of many other unexpected emergencies that costs many thousands, and find your insurance inadequate or canceled, will you stop making these kinds of arguments as you either mortgage your house or declare bankruptcy from the medical bills. By the way, I paid $26 for a single Tums in the hospital - a toilet seat by any other name....Oh yeah, and try to get in to see a doctor without health insurance.

I see anyone that needs medical care. I take whatever they can afford in payment. The problem is that if they need hospital care, I can't arrange it. the hospitals refuse to schedule surgery for people with no insurance. if i send them to the ER, federal law requires the hospital to diagnose and stabilize them, but can send them back out even if they might die hours or days later. what we pay 1 insurance company ceo, could save thousands of lives or hire a thousand nurses or pay 500 ER doctors. the system is messed up and will remain so as long as insurance company executives can glom 7 and 8 figure salaries by denying care or doing a lousy job managing it!