Switzerland, which has a system the most similar to the proposed reform, has neither one of those problems.

The Swiss system has several provisions that our new system does not. Without these provisions we will still be getting expensive, crappy care. The only difference will be that more of us will have it and those that don’t can be thrown in the pokey. What are the differences?

1) The Swiss government defines what a health insurance policy is, what it will pay for (almost everything BTW), and how much it costs.

2) The Swiss government will revoke the license of an insurance company for denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, for revoking the policy after someone gets sick, etc…

Essentially, the Swiss system is an extremely highly regulated private system. Health insurance provider profits (for the baseline policies) are regulated by the Swiss government and are kept quite low. It is IMO the best private system in the world. The best public system? The French IMO. Either would be a good model depending on your political bent. Ours will be neither, the insurance companies will continue to do as they please, they will continue to price however they see fit, they will continue to deny you service if you get sick, they will continue to charge you and arm and a leg if you have any sort of pre-existing condition, etc… I’m sure the bill will say they can’t do some of these things but if you believe they’re going to stop, you’ll believe anything. They run the show and they’ll get what they want.