> "deploying a sustainable universal health insurance in the US (either public option or single payer)" Why involve the insurance companies at all? They're jus

> "deploying a sustainable universal health insurance in the US (either public option or single payer)" Why involve the insurance companies at all? They're just a drain on the US healthcare system. If you cut out the insurance companies, changed the rules about price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry and engaged in preventative medicine (such as offering support to those who wanted to lose weight), the US could easily afford publicly funded healthcare. Other countries with fewer resources have managed it just fine. Even if you have to raise taxes to do it, you could do so and still leave people with more money in their pocket compared to when they were paying out insurance premiums.