[beagle3]

Actually, the Israeli system does sort-of stop people from dying yet still lets market forces do some magic. It is single payer (gov) through taxes, every person chooses their HMO. The HMOs get paid per member (so they compete for the members) and they are also allowed to offer extra services to their members (which they also compete on). And finally - and I think this is also crucial - the government has a special fund for expensive life saving treatments that the HMOs tap into when needed - so they do not have an incentive to avoid those treatments.