When you get right down to it, NO universal health care plan will work--unless something is done about reducing the costs of medical care, hospitals, drugs, medical equipment and supplies and administrative costs. A recent example:
I'm on Medicare. My doctor sent me to get a routu=ine stress test and a routine blood test (general workup). The bill--which was paid by Medicare and my Medigap insurance plan--- was a bit over $11,000. WIth charges like that, NO payment system can work over a stretch of time. Preventative medicine only makes things worse-if it works, it only permits you to live longer and accrue more medical bills.

A government-sponsored Medical School scholarship program , with a compulsory period of public service work for graduates, would be a good first step, especially when we seem to have a shortage of doctors in many areas. Another would be to permit the government to bargain with drug companies for the best price. A big step forward would be to ban advertising of drugs to the public. CLearly a central computerized database of medical records could be an immense help, both in reducing administrative costs and (much more importantly) in determining effectiveness of different treatments.

There a lots of ways to make things better. BUT choosing which way the consumer is going to pay for today's overinflated costs isn't any of them.