It's probably true that any half-decent public health plan will eventually put the current gang of insurers out of business. However, for right now, any legistation that could possibly pass Congress will be a compromise allowing the status quo to carry on for those who are happy with it now.

It would seem logical that any public (non-profit) setup would have an economic advatage over businesses that need to add profits to all the other costs of providing care. But at first, the government will be shouldering the extra burden of providing for all the least-healthy among us, who are unable to find coverage under the current conditions.

It'll probably take a couple of decades for private health insurance to gradually lose its market. We should all find ways to adjust ourselves in the meantime. By then, we should no longer be burdened with the most expensive and least effective health-care system in the industrialized world.