Back in 2004 when John Kerry was running for POS (that's President of the United States, he-he), he had a great idea (that I'm sure came from elsewhere, but a good idea is a good idea). The US government would become the "insurer of last resort" and cover catastrophic claims above a certain amount:
For his efforts, he was practically called a "Commie" by the Republican party, despite the fact that the proposed mandates were fairly mild and the plan worked within the existing employer-provided health insurance system. It was a good crack at the ~20% of the population that accounts for the majority of healthcare spending, and eliminates the possibility of someone losing their home and savings because of a serious illness. Plus, I'm sure that the levers could be tweaked a bit to get better outcomes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16748-2004Jun...
For his efforts, he was practically called a "Commie" by the Republican party, despite the fact that the proposed mandates were fairly mild and the plan worked within the existing employer-provided health insurance system. It was a good crack at the ~20% of the population that accounts for the majority of healthcare spending, and eliminates the possibility of someone losing their home and savings because of a serious illness. Plus, I'm sure that the levers could be tweaked a bit to get better outcomes.