WELL, HOW ABOUT THIS? – AT 9:54 A.M. ET:   It isn't something you'd expect from a European country.  Remarkable.  From AFP: 

Geneva (AFP) - Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a plan for a seismic shift from the country's all-private health insurance system to a state-run scheme.

Referendum results showed that almost 62 percent of voters had shot down a reform pushed by left-leaning parties which say the current private system is busting the budgets of ordinary residents.

The results also underlined the national divisions over the hotly-contested issue as the country's German-speaking regions voted against the plan, while their French-speaking counterparts were in favour.

Switzerland's private insurance lobby hailed the vote.

"The Swiss population does not want a single national scheme," said the Swiss Insurance Association.

"Our health system is among the top performers in the world. Competition between health insurers and freedom of choice for clients play a major role in this," it added.

Going public would have been a major shift for a country whose health system is often hailed abroad as a paragon of efficiency, but is a growing source of frustration at home because of soaring costs.

COMMENT:  Obviously, it's important to deal with rising costs, but that can be done without nationalizing the whole system, which is what the socialist-minded would like to do all over the world.  Some educators are now experimenting with ways to bring down college costs dramatically.  We should be far more innovative in bringing down health costs. 

September 29, 2014