>>Second, on prices...I never said prices didn't rise in the private market. But remember, Barack Obama made a promise that premiums would drop $2,500 a year - a promise that hasn't (and likely won't) even come close to fruition. One of many broken promises.

Sorry, gotta do it: a) that was a per family decrease, not per individual, and b) it wasn't just an Obamacare saving: e.g. over 50% of it was meant to come from wider use of Electronic Health Records. On that point he relied on over-optimistic predictions by recipients of EHR aid amongst others. Yes, it all relied on simplistic math, but think it through: if Obama has to second-guess and vet advice he is given, he cannot function. And before you say it, yes I agree that the mark of a good administrator is to appoint capable people who won't mess you up. ;-)

Putting aside the blame, here's something to consider about $2500: the annual cost of healthcare per capita was as low as $3182 in a recent international first world comparison, compared to $8508 in the US. A $2500 reduction still leaves your system not quite twice as expensive. IOW there's no intrinsic reason why costs can't fall by that sort of amount, just entrenched justifications to keep the price high.

If you even suggested a $2500 per capita reduction in most healthcare jurisdictions- people would laugh, or ask you what essential services you plan to cut. That US citizens might even consider that Obama meant $2500 per person is a sign of the weird healthcare system you ended up with.