If we remove political considerations, such as how we can get to a certain solution in the face of powerful corporate interests, what would be the best solution to healthcare? First, a few baseline assumptions:

1. We want to have everyone covered.
2. We want to maximize health.
3. We want to minimize costs.
4. We want the cost burden to be progressive (i.e. rich people pay more.).

Let's look at a hypothetical proposal from economist Brad DeLong, the Australian system, our VA system here in the US, and some thoughts of my own.