A single payer health insurance system in the United States will create a "risk pool" of all American citizens - the only rational way of providing health care assurance. It will also accomplish the following:

• Allow complete patient freedom in selection of health care providers.

• Eliminate much of the fraud in the present system.

• Reduce administrative costs to hospitals and physician groups by tens of thousands to millions of dollars in every hospital and medical clinic.

• Immediately improve cash flow to hospitals, physicians and other health care providers.

• Eliminate billing and collection problems thereby focusing all medical decision-making to its primary mission of maintaining and/or restoring the health of patients.

• Provide total uniformity in medical documentation, thereby facilitating audit and oversight processes.

• Allow the creation of uniform, accurate data bases on costs of providing services, efficacy data on surgical and medical treatment protocols (Evidence Based Protocols) and would serve as an efficient "Early Warning System" in the event of potential epidemics.

• Stop the financial hemorrhaging in hospital emergency rooms.

• Improve the allocation of medical infrastructure and services.

• Reduce per capita medical expenses in the U.S. by as much as 30 to 40 percent while improving our medical delivery system.

• Get politics out of the medical decision-making process and return it to the physician and patient.

• Immediately improve America's competitive position in world commerce.

America's medical delivery system will thereby be returned to citizens and physicians. The Preamble of our Constitution states that it is the government's responsibility "to promote the common welfare" of the people. Nowhere in our Constitution does it say or even imply that the American people have a legal, moral, ethical or Christian obligation to guarantee the profitability of privately owned insurance companies or any other private entity.

The selective coverage (or "limited risk pools") provided by all private insurance companies betrays their sole intent to collect premiums with no intention of providing coverage except when legally forced to do so. The private insurance industry has had 60 years to prove the efficacy and viability of private health insurance in America. They have failed miserably in that they have consistently sought to privatize all profit and socialize all costs.

The taxpayers of America foot the entire bill for all citizens who end up on Medicaid. (Cost shifting.) Every single dollar paid out for Medicaid is a dollar that ends up as "bottom line after tax profit" in the pockets of private insurance companies.

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