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First of all, nobody is proposing "government-run health care," but "government-run insurance." So you're misleading from the start. On what basis do you contend that government-run health insurance won't work? Millions of Americans receive care through Medicare, and most of them are quite happy with it. If they're not, they're free to choose private medical insurance, but most opt for Medicare. And back in the Clinton Administration, when we had people in the government who actually believed in government, the VA ran a very good health care system before the Bush ideologues undermined the system. There is a fundamental problem with private medical insurance: Insurers make money by NOT paying claims, and incentives for innovation are to find ways to minimize those payouts, rather than in providing better, more cost-effective care. Thus they cherry-pick customers, raise premiums, deny for pre-existing conditions, etc.. And for all the talk of "bureaucrats" getting between patients and doctors, now we have insurance company bureaucrats doing so. I don't even claim private insurance firms are evil; they're simply rational. I support a single-payer system because then that single payer might have an incentive to spend money on public health and preventive care ("you can pay me now...or pay me later"), which many insurers have no incentive to pay now since the savings might accrue to a different insurer. If a private firm can do this, great, but I suspect only the federal government has the ability to create a single risk pool that would make this possible. And for those of you who claim government can run things: you probably trust government to fight our wars, so why don't you think they can run health insurance?