Opinion: US healthcare, welcome to Italy

Perhaps an unlikely place to see where the US healthcare system is headed is Italy. One of the reasons for high taxes and large debt levels in Italy is a government sponsored healthcare system that costs more than originally planned. The result of the high tax rates paying for healthcare is that in Italy, there is a two tiered healthcare system, much like that of the UK and what many think will eventually emerge in the US. Wealthy Italians go to a private pay doctor who charges more than the government set rate and the patient pays the difference.