It's odd then, that all those European countries who have replaced the ruthless insurance company sharks with beige bureaucrats have also managed to reduce their per-capita expenditure on health "care" to half or less than half of ours here in the U.S., and on top of saving vast seas of cash they also get measurably superior outcomes (lower infant mortality, longer life expectancy).

Seroiusly. Stop focusing on airy theoretical analysis and look at the real-world bottom line. We Americans are getting royally screwed by the medicine industry. Every year they screw us deeper and harder. Are you in favor of leaving the dismal status quo as-is, or can you consider the vastly cheaper and more effective systems that every other "first-world" country in the world employ?