Common sense should trump party affiliation.

As far as health care reform goes, I am not a democrat, a republican or an independent. I am just a person reaching for a common sense alternative to the way we pay provide health care now. If there is one thing the insurance companies have taught us, it is that there are economies of scale that create efficiency in health care costs----The bigger the group, the lower the medical cost to you. Makes sense to me. The insurance companies have argued this for years as their rational for charging you more for health insurance when you leave a large group for a smaller one. Okay then. The largest group we could insure then is the whole population of the USA, hence each person would have the lowest cost. Largest insurance group, hence lowest individual insurance cost!

Consider this situation. California has 40 million people who pay $200 billion a year in insurance premiums to numerous insurance companies. Why not just aggregate all the insurance costs into a single payer system, reducing the costs for all. Forty million is the largest possible group in California hence the lowest individual insurance cost. This type of reformed health care, or Single payer systems, sometimes referred to inaccurately as "government run health care," is what the California Senate recently approved. With Obama's plan bogged down in congress, California has moved forward to take the first steps in its own plan. Congratulations.

But California pundits have asked where will California get the money to pay for a single payer system? California citizens are already paying $200 billion per year for 40 million people; that is $5,000 per person per year, and of course we know some are not paying anything. The point is there is enough money already being paid that with the economy of providing health insurance for large groups, there is more than likely already enough being paid to provide health care to all California citizens with no additional cost to anyone. Pie in the sky? Do the math? It is not complicated.

It is not about which party you belong too, it is about how best to accomplish the objective -- reasonable health care for everyone. Congress does not work anymore because party affiliation now trumps common sense.

The least congress could do is legislatively allow insurance companies to compete across state lines. Talk about your border wars. We have them in the insurance world. Even the NFL is allowed to compete without regard for borders. Coming up soon is Indianapolis v Louisiana. Let the insurance companies do the same thing as the NFL.

Common sense should trump party affiliation.

More on this later.