>>Ah but the cars belonged to the system, and the drivers were employees too, so it was all under control. They could sneak a few liters of gas here and there, and maybe veer off course a mile or two to visit someone privately, but there's no way they could pocket more than a couple of percent of their expense. The car's mileage was checked daily (actually after each shift) and it had to match.
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>>IOW, it's not that the state-run systems are wasteful per se. They can be run efficiently, if there's a will. Here in the States, you may be right, there's a will to not only make them look wasteful, but to actually make them so.
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>>But then, if the privately owned systems are so much more liked, then they are less doubted, and consequently less controlled. Do we know what they do? I only see their buildings and imagine how much must they cost.
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>It is a conceptual problem. If private insurance company will give free rides to their customers then most likely this company will go out of business, providing that due competition is in place. As long as this company has private owners, there is a mechanism (imperfect, but still one existing) in place to prevent sliding to bankruptcy, indirectly forcing the company to fight the waste. There is no such mechanism in case of government, because the latter cannot go bankrupt, at least before it will make all citizens bankrupt.

As stated earlier in this thread, they are partially successful in that. And I don't think the reason for the cost of corporate insurance is any sort of free ride for the customers - just look at preexisting conditions and other "we aren't selling that" policies - it's the cost of corporation itself, and possibly creative accounting. So while they may not have the money for your surgery, they do have money for their shareholders, new office furniture, millions in bonuses to CEOs etc etc.

>In regard to that particualar car example: private company would (in ideal world) cut it down, government would create a new department to interact with transportation companies.

American government probably would. And the transportation company would overcharge. In the case I described, however, the doctors, nurses, cars, drivers etc belonged to the health system - the health insurance was a separate part of the same system. These guys took good care to bill the insurance cleanly, or else they wouldn't be reimbursed fully - I know how detailed the bills had to be. The theft happened at top levels, though - but that's when the system was being dismantled.