You are such an optimist, Stephen J.. The use of the term "slow learner" implies that, while slow, we will learn.  Our healthcare system has been the most expensive and the least effective of all systems in the industrialized world for as long as I can remember.(yes, I'm 74 and sometimes forget where I parked my car, but I think my memory is fine on the healthcare issue).  

President Obama, instead of pushing a single-payer system, chose to "compromise" with the ACA, which, as you note, has the insurance industry at its core.  It has only perpetuated the fiasco of our health care system on both the funding and the delivery sides.  

Not to be too cynical, but how could anyone believe a system which rewards providers with financial gain for NOT providing healthcare would ever serve the best interests of the patient/consumer.

We have apple trees and I'd like to sell you some apples using the insurance company model.  You give me a set amount and I'll give you as few apples as possible.