[halostatue]

This is unsurprisingly incorrect.

There are dozens of universal healthcare systems to study and implement against. Most are single-payer (France, the UK, Canada) but some are based on heavily regulated mandatory private insurance (Germany and Switzerland, IIRC; I could be wrong).

In every case, the government says "this is the price that you are allowed to charge for service X", which is based on cost-to-deliver plus a reasonable overhead (like the Medicare price in the U.S.).

Eliminate the for-profit healthcare crap like was described in this article and most of the American overspending on health services goes away. Not all of it, but most of it. As a side-effect, the health care system will become more efficient and could finally become an effective partner in providing health security (both for individuals and for the nation; having a functional health care system is arguably important for national security in an age where biologicals are a fear).