Don McCanne, MD at Physicians for a National Health Program. Fair using, heck, most of it:

The private insurance industry, as it functions today, clearly must be replaced with a system that works. So what is the solution proposed by the HCAN coalition? Let’s replace the private insurance industry with… the private insurance industry. Only let’s regulate it by requiring the insurers to provide us with the comprehensive coverage that we need “through the largest possible pools” - thus ensuring that their products will have premiums that only the very wealthiest of us can afford.
The HCAN coalition also would enact a public program in competition with the private plans to be sure that the private plans would sell us the comprehensive products that we need - a not-so-difficult challenge considering that the public program would be outrageously expensive due to adverse selection. So then we would have a choice of highly-regulated, unaffordable private plans, or an even less affordable public program option.

Why did the coalition insist on including private plans when the industry’s track record is so miserable? It was a political decision based not on which policies would actually work, but rather based on rhetorical framing that would resonate with a public that remains relatively uninformed on the make-or-break nuances of health policy. Focus groups and polls showed that “choice of private plans” resonated well, so they decided to abandon policy and go with messaging.

The members of Physicians for a National Health Program would take a more “doctorly” approach toward reform. While the HCAN coalition is recommending placebo therapy, we would point out that effective treatment is available: a single payer national health program.

Bingo.

Hey, it's only my health!

So why not let what the Village thinks will sell determine policy? What could go wrong?

NOTE Krugman has a fine column on health care today. Turns out that Kennedy really was on the Senate floor for a reason, and although the Dems shat the bed on FISA, they did all right in nobbling the Republican drive to privatize Medicare. Kudos, though, as usual, it was a near run thing.

Also, Krugman has an open thread here. Single payer/HR 676 advocates would do well to leave Krugman some linky goodness in comments (though the comments are moderated, and slow to show up).