Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure? If I want to pay for the best, I ought to be able to buy it (again, if I will pay).
There's a difference between actual single-payer (in which there is a single entity which pays, the government) and a government health-care plan. For which are you advocating?
A single-payer system, as I said.
>Why could I not buy my own insurance? Or why can't I self-insure?
These are leading questions. There exists healthcare systems that are a hybrid of single-payer/private insurance.
Maybe I'm "crazy enough" to think that there should be zero profit-motive in health insurance, but even I can confidently say that a public policy scenario wherein all but a government plan is prohibited just isn't realistic, nor does it reflect what many other western countries have done for 30+ years.