Nationalizing more of our health care is a very, very bad idea. The simpler solution to the (involuntarily) uninsured is to provide vouchers or cover them under Medicaid. We didn't need to nationalize grocery stores to provide food aid to the poor We did it in the form of food stamps. Creating a Byzantine, inefficient bureaucracy is overkill.
For those that think "public choice" health care is a good idea they should sign up. However, where profit is falsely believed to be "excess" this is their chance to enjoy the benefits of government. If nationalizing becomes a reality it should be funded just like private insurance - from the proceeds of the program and fees collected through payroll deduction (only from the covered). NO GENERAL FUND money should supplement the program. This is where it will be quickly discovered profit is neither guaranteed nor excess in a competitive market place. I concede that our current system is already very convoluted. A system where the employer decides who pays for coverage, the patient choose the provider, the insurance company decides how much to pay on the claim. The normal market incentive system is broken.
Regulation, wisely done, is a necessity for both a private or public option and should be unaffected by such legislation.
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