Government should either provide universal health care coverage or none at all. So which is it? Well it depends on what we can afford. The United States can afford a lot.

This is a radically different approach. Basic services would be provided for all without any needs testing. Those with means could use the basic service or pay for more. What can we afford? Good preventive and corrective medical care.

What can't we afford:

• Medical malpractice lawyers, insurance and assorted legal costs for physicians, manufacturers and pharmaceutical suppliers
  
• Inefficient billing and payment processes and bureaucracies
  
• Excessive physician salaries inflated by insurance processes
  
• Defensive diagnostics ordered by doctors threatened by lawsuits
• Pharmaceutical regulation and resulting high cost of drugs
  
• Absence of effective para-medical professionals able to treat routine problems and recognize threats that need to be escalated to specialists
• Neglect of prevention
  

Get rid of the costs we can't afford and we can deliver great medical care that will set the world standard and contribute to a healthier America.