Drew, bcf1963 had it mostly right up until the comment about docs scrambling to raising their rates. Many of their rates are going to be reduced and that's a good start. But regardless of OCare, health care rates in the US have been a runaway train for a few decades and our inability to address the issue is the 800 lb gorilla we now have sitting in our lap.

Whenever you have such a big pot of money, you're going to see a lot of big corporate straws sucking the life out of the country's health budget. From big pharma, to big insurance, to large shareholder run firms owning multiple hospitals with top heavy, bloated administrative layers containing out of whack salary budgets compared to their actual health worker ratios (nurses, interns, resident docs, orderlies, etc). The whole system is unsustainable and everyone knows this now but no one wants to do anything about it.
I agree that, while there are other counties with successful nationalized care systems, it may not work in our country. Our govt may be at fault with that but I think the onus ultimately falls in the laps of the American people.

BTW, OCare is not a nationalized system and that for me, is its largest fault.
I personally don't feel that health care should be a for profit "business". And until the majority of the nation gets their head wrapped around that notion and accepts that, a public option may never work.

Like it or not, we've had socialized health care for decades, but it's not nationalized care, and that is why the train is running away. We are headed for a correction. The bubble will burst and it probably will be very painful, just like the Wall Street burst. We as a nation should be proactive, but we rarely are and usually have to implode and bottom out before anything gets accomplished. I'll buy you that drink at the bottom!