[Tchocky]

Same with most government goods, really.

Earn more, pay more.

Those who earn more tend not to use so many government services (state healthcare, public schools, social welfare) as those lower down on the pay scale, but proportionally more is paid by the rich.

THe government pays for almost half of the US health system already (I think around 45%, could be wrong). The situation seems to be that the US pays a lot more per capita for healthcare, without substantially better results than countries such as France or the Netherlands. Question is, is the current system optimal?

EDIT - and when you think about it, most people won't use insurance anyway. That's how it works. If only sick or likely-to-be-sick people were to take out insurance, the cost of premiums would skyrocket, leaving a lot of people out of the loop, likely to be sick and unable to get treatment. That to me is a strong (brief) argument for a public plan option.