he found that Medicare administrative costs were 24.8 percent higher per beneficiary than costs for private insurers. It is not just the costs charged by the medical industry that need to be controlled, but the administrative costs as well.

I haven't seen the figures but agree that administrators like to build kingdoms and need to be constrained. In the case of Medicare I'm wondering whether the reviewer compared costs for elderly patients in both systems or just "patients" in which case it's not a complete comparison.

I still think we should bring in the Swedes to manage any universal healthcare system !!

The French are champions too though some here would be aghast at their estate taxation rules! ;-)

As for diet etc: I am privileged to sample supermarkets in many countries and can say for sure that the quality of food in US supermarkets has risen hugely in recent years. Seems the market is making decisions about getting healthier. Always there will be slobs but a significant number of parents are seeking out good food for their kids. Probably you can accelerate that by predicting the true costs of healthcare for children who turn into unhealthy obese adults.

The system needs to be streamlined and cleaned up before more is added into it

The system is a mess. Uncertainty of purpose is something it doesn't need. Hard to know whether sweeping reform or baby steps is the way to go. i have a sneaking suspicion that challenges of government and determined partisan opposition may leave it easiest to do nothing in which case the country that already pays far more than anybody else for healthcare while disenfranchising up to 20% of its citizens will end up paying more to provide care to fewer.