Reply #1: Offer a medicare-like program and don't touch the existing private ones [View All]

They will have to change to compete.

If they don't then they will serve a rich niche market, and who cares?

As long as there is good coverage available to all with some sort of food-stamp-like program to enable the poorest to participate, the issue is over. Employers can still pay for it as a perk if they choose, but when people change jobs they either start picking up the tab themselves or the new employer does. It will become single-payer by default.


Opposition to doing this will be strong from the status-quo high profit lobby, but will ring hollow as long as the offered plan is touted as being targeted at the currently un- or underinsured. Get it passed and working, and then if their customer base erodes, well, that's their fault.

It does not have to be mandatory. But someone who opts out of all coverage will be in the same situation as someone who does not have collision insurance. Wreck your car, pay for the repairs yourself, or go without a car. There won't be many doing that, and they will earn well-deserved Darwin awards.