Our current system is needlessly complex and expensive.
Private health plans currently operate in a world of numerous middlemen standing between your Dr. and you. Most people, however, are unaware of the extent to which the system involves subcontractors by employers, HMOs, and others. The diagram on the left is intended to give a broad overview of the various players in our private health system.

Medical treatment is an inalienable, human right: No person should make a profit from the suffering of another. Minnesota took a big step in making that true by requiring that HMOs and health insurers be non-profit organizations. It needs to be recognized that the other middlemen in the system also profit from the provision of medical care.

Our health system isn’t the result of planning. It’s the result of grafting together various parts from here and there, much like Frankenstein the monster. Providing medical care is a crucial function of a community, and it should be done in a well-organized way, not haphazardly, providing high quality while also controlling costs.

Despite spending far more than our peer nations, the quality of US health care is worse than all of them. According to a Word Health Organization study, we rank 37th in the world in quality, behind Costa Rica, who ranks 36. We do not have the best health system, but we could and should.