It’s important to have that discussion because it has implications on what approach we take. I think there’s generally broad agreement that the status quo is bad...there’s just violent disagreement as to why it’s bad. There are a number of ways to fix it (and not just the one proposal you keep hearing about).

Simply decoupling healthcare from employment while keeping it private is one approach. We know that this is efficient, because it’s what Medicare Advantage is, and that’s actually cheaper and better than Original Medicare.

Providing universal catastrophic care with savings accounts is another approach that has shown empirical success. It’s how Singapore’s health care system works, and it is widely regarded to be the most efficient healthcare system among the advanced economies.

> Why not just adopt one of the competing alternatives wholesale and admit defeat?

I agree! If it were up to me, we would adopt Singapore’s system wholesale. Either that, or, Switzerland’s. Or we would just have everyone in the US be on Medicare Advantage.