The US has single-payer health care (and a public option): TRICARE by the US military

There are almost 10 million Americans in a world-class single-payer health care system today. It's called Tricare and it is for those in the military, their families and reservists. 

There is no insurance company involved.

That's the beauty. No parasitic for-profit paper-pushers between a doctor and a patient. High-quality health care to make people better when they get sick.

And it's run by the goverment.

Kind of like....a public option.

I'd like to enroll in Tricare instead of playing the lottery with the claims I submit to my for-profit insurance company (and hope they get paid off). I'd like a public option so I don't have to play games with different for-profit insurance companies and hope that some insurance bureaucrat doesn't get a bonus by denying my claim for seeing a doctor -- especially if I get really sick and need to go to the hospital. I'd much rather just know that I'll be covered, just like the 10 million people know they'll be covered by Tricare.

I came across Tricare -- the US military's single-payer health care network -- through this Kos post referencing this Newsweek article.

Check out the Vision of Tricare:

Vision
A world-class health care system that supports the military mission by fostering, protecting, sustaining, and restoring health

Note that it is not: produce high financial returns to our shareholders. It is: make people healthy. That's what the point of health care should be about. Not making money for the parasitic insurance companies.

Either you're on the side of health for people or you're on the side of the insurance companies making money. Which side are you on?