I think that all the systems in the world deliver healthcare of one sort or another, so the answer is yes, ANY system works to a certain extent. The real question is, can our system work better.

I have a pragmatic point of view on this. I suspect it can work better, and I would like to see various fixes tried.

By the way, a big deal has been made about having a bureaucrat imposed between you and your doctor.

Do any of you NOT have bureaucrats imposed between you and your doctor already? My impression is that most people have one variety of HMO or another, and HMOs do have bureaucracy, does anyone disagree? Remember that big list of doctors you have to choose among? That is called bureaucracy. Before doctors can get on that list THEY have to agree to the rules of the bureaucracy.

So we are not so much talking about establishing a bureaucracy as improving it. Most of us don't make the rules about how we interact with our doctors, we abide by those someone else made up.

One more thing. People talk about the evils of government bureaucracy. I have had occasion to interact with Social Security bureaucracy lately. I found the bureaucracy nimble, fast, easy to get in contact with and reasonable. It was MUCH better than many private companies I have dealt with.