Comment on a recent NYT article about the state of the medical profession, Dr. Helen Thomas says "I handle all of my own paperwork for Medicare, TennCare and other various insurance companies and have nearly lost my mind with the mind-boggling paperwork."

To be sure, private sector bureaucracy can be as terrible to deal with as government bureaucracy. One reason is that government has imposed itself so strongly into the private practice of medicine. Another reason, at least in medicine, is that our tax laws and cultural expectations set us up for third-party payment--which means, again, bureaucracy.

Taking steps to make insurance more affordable is great. Anything that avoids the need to deal with insurance may be even better.