> How is forcing people to pay for private insurance that may
> or may not cover you an improvement over not doing so?
I suppose we could ask the same about things like Auto Liability Insurance[*] and Workers Compensation Insurance? If you're going to have a big insurance system, you sure better make it so that everyone has to have it. Fixing it so that it does cover what you need covered can come later as a Step Two. It might also convince insurance companies that it's no fun covering people in such an environment ... which can lead to more and more of them dropping out of the market. I think that would be a nice outcome.
/jordan
[*] I'm not sure if you, in Florida, are required to have this; but here in California you are ...