Why would you compare it to that, when Medicare, which is a proven system which is much more related, already exists. Whats next? Are you going to compare it to the Forest Service? By the way if you go talk to people who actually have Medicare, you will see it is a highly successful program.
As I understand it, Medicare only reimburses Hospitals for about 90% of the cost of services. How can a private company compete with a government program that doesn't have to pay full price for services?
It can't and that's the idea. I have always found the argument that we need competition to lower prices, so we're going to create a government entity. That's one more participant. It seems to me it would be both cheaper and more effective to drop the barrier of selling across state lines as well as what was required to be covered. You would get thousands of entrants into the marketplace, and THAT would drive down rates.