Modern Industrial nations have socialized medicine... I wonder why not the US? Capatalism is great for competition but we pay an exorbitant amount of money for medical assistance. If the treatments are not affordable the quality is a moot point. In the four years i was stationed in Germany and had a German wife and german friends I didn't see any lack of quality based on a competion vaccum, however, I did see alot of preventative care that we in America rarely get due to cost. Even with a socialized health plan the US would still be one of the higher paying countries to our doctors. How to keey a level of professionalism without competition... Proficiency based pay. A base pay the way my Army paycheck has, with allowances for specialized skills. EXAMPLE: A soldier on active duty recieves an incentive pay of 150.00 extra each month for maintaining jump status in an airborne unit. A lung doctor could recieve a bonus monthly for being more specialized than a general practitioner. A doctor works in an HIV/AIDS clinic... Hazard pay would be apropriate. Health problems caught quickly can usually be treated/avoided with much better success than when caught later. People today with HMOs are having the problem the frog mentioned regarding poor quality control. I also believe that if the average doctor did not have to shell out 100,000 USD on med school (conservative figure) that they would not require as much compensation as they currently enjoy.