I get the sentiment, but I can say without any hyperbole that would be a death sentence on the majority of people with chronic conditions.
We have done so in the form of government. The whole promote the general welfare bit. The free rider problem is not an issue with publicly funded healthcare.
It is to the extent possible for 330 million people. There are no instances in world history in which people freely organizing as you put it adequately solved the issues of hunger, education, healthcare, etc. for civilizations with more than 5 million people.
People, in the form of their elected officials, can freely decide to impose a publicly funded solution. You’d be free to refuse care in such a system, or to leave. All societies have rules that some people don’t like.
In all seriousness, if those are the only choices then it's not people freely organizing. And this forced "free" organization is NOT the only way to solve these problems, and in fact it isn't really a solution to these problems at all.
what has me pensive is, i think you already know this
Private industry has no prime directive. There is no supreme leader telling them what to do. That's kinda the whole point. Some choose to pursue maximum short term profit at the expense of all else, and some choose to give every penny they earn to the poor and needy, with a whole spectrum in between. Most people in our society are good people, unless they are constantly told they are not, constantly told that they should be afraid of everyone else, or are given too much power over others.
Yes, "insurance" as such has lost its meaning. Its healthcare coverage. Everyone knows that, we just keep calling it "insurance".
Health insurance today is really a collective bargaining organization. You join the UHC club and UHC negotiatates rates with medical providers on club members behalf. Except it doesn't even work very well in that model because it's not run like a club with members having any input really. You also can't easily leave one club if you are unhappy and join another club, and your employer and the government are paying more of the money into the club than you are.
I believe if you propose such a practical experiment HN would be happy to discuss, poke holes, etc. However, most people are fine to look at other countries that have already implemented universal health care well, at a fraction of US prices and say, lets do that. The average American on private insurance already pays more than what such a system would cost. Allowing a private option on top would resolve issues with anyone worried about reduced quality / lack of choice.