Swiss healthcare thrives without public option

In Switzerland, private insurers are required to offer coverage to all citizens, regardless of age or medical history. And those people, in turn, are obligated to buy health insurance. That is why many academics who have studied the Swiss healthcare system have pointed to this nation of about 7.5 million as a model that delivers much of what U.S. legislators are aiming to accomplish, without the contentious option of a government-run health insurance plan, reports the New York Times.