Then call it "Freedom Care"

When you consider Mike Huckabee's Fair Tax would run you 33%, and now it's one of BOb Barr's Four Reasons Why I Should Be President, a 10% VAT for universal health care vouchers oughta seem like a good conservative, charter schools kind of idea, eh?

"Mr Emanuel proposes a universal healthcare voucher, entitling every citizen to privately-provided insurance, with standard benefits equal to those enjoyed by members of Congress. Insurers would be forbidden to deny coverage to any citizen, regardless of pre-existing conditions. They would be reimbursed by the government with a risk-adjusted premium for every enrolee – taking account of age, sex, pre-existing conditions and other factors using a formula to be determined by a new National Health Board. The system would start by covering the uninsured and those covered by their employers; in due course it would absorb Medicaid and Medicare.

"This is not a single-payer plan: competition among insurers and health plans would be crucial to its success. But competition would revolve not around denying coverage by excluding bad risks, but around providing good results. To that end, companies would have to report detailed information on their performance and quality of service."

Not a chance. It's too much like the French health care system.