And yes, this is system reform, not just insurance reform. It doesn’t go as far as many of us would like in terms of true health care reform (eg, single payor), but at least it goes part-way there. Right now, our health care system, for all intents and purposes, is run by third-party payors. They’ve done a terrible job for people, other than their shareholders (they’ve done a great job for them). And I don’t begrudge their bringing value to shareholders-that’s the nature of capitalism. It’s just that capitalism, by its nature, hurts a lot of people in the name of profits. So we need an alternative to the insurance companies. While not perfect, govt-run health care is far better and more efficient than private health insurers. There is far less overhead, for example. There is no focus on shareholder profits, so money left over can be thrown back into the system. It does work-look at the VA and CMS, for example.

I think you make great points here. I would add that the current bill before the HR has very little to do with Healthcare reform and all to do with Insurance Reform, which just so happens to be a great perceived target for the party in power. True health reform would start with addressing the root causes of our greatest issue: escalating health care costs. Consumerism is notably missing from the current system and in my view is the greatest cause of cost escalation. I go into greater detail on this on my blog blog.jacobsononline.com.

I agree with the majority if not all of your points and recommendations. We do need health care reform however this is not reform. Let’s break this down into incremental improvements that can be understood by the average american instead of these massive 2000+ page bills that have become the norm.