We needn’t look to Vermont, however, to see the possible benefits of a single-payer system. In France, the government provides health insurance, which refunds more than 70 percent of the cost of medical treatments. The French can then buy supplemental insurance coverage from private, nonprofit carriers to make up the difference. The World Health Organization, the public health arm of the United Nations, ranks the French medical system No. 1 in the world. The U.S. system is No. 37, just behind Costa Rica and just ahead of Slovenia.

No doubt, the U.S. has amazing medical providers and researchers. The trouble, according to WHO, is that too many Americans have traditionally had little to no access to the medical system –– and our health care costs are the highest in the world.

Despite the Affordable Care Act’s botched rollout, the law will increase access to our health care system, providing an estimated 20 million Americans with insurance who, in the past, had none.

A single-payer system, perhaps modeled after the French system, clearly has the potential to reduce costs by bringing most drug sales under a single umbrella –– the government –– and building in the efficiencies that come only with economy of scale.

Scott Brinton is senior editor of the Bellmore and Merrick Heralds and an adjunct professor in Hofstra University's graduate and undergraduate journalism programs. Comments? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203. Follow him on Twitter @scottbrinton1