Very good points Larry. I actually agree with you on many of them.
By the "unfettered free market", I was referring to the insurance lobby (you may disagree with this too) I apologize for the lack of clarity.
The very fact that it is illegal for groups of people to join together for the purpose of buying insurance is evidence of the insurance lobby's power.
The problem with tort reform is that it could allow incompetent medical practitioners and or facilities to continue. There are cases of gross malpractice where lives are destroyed and limiting compensation is inappropriate at best. Another part of tort reform that is often promoted is stopping lawyers from working on contingency. This would prevent victims of wrongdoing or negligence from having legal representation. (Yeah, I know, with nationalized health care, this would probably happen too).
As a mortgage broker you may be aware of the high rate of mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcies that occur due to astronomical medical bills.
While the changes you mentioned may make yours and my premiums go down, they do nothing to address the large number of citizens of this country who have no or, at best, minimal coverage. Many people do not have the advantages that most of us do, they work minimum wage jobs with no benefits and try to house and feed themselves on what they earn. There's nothing left over for basic medical care, so they wait until something becomes serious and go to an emergency room where they have to be treated regardless of ability to pay. The ER facility doesn't want to lose money so they pass on the cost to those who can pay.
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There is no perfect system.
We agree on that!!
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There will always be some who are not well served by any system
So sorry. I don't find that acceptable.
It's interesting to note, Larry, that the system you propose would also require legislative interference.
(And I already know how you'll rationalize that 
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