This is the first of three installments and, as such, my ratings might change as other segments are published, perhaps showing the physicians' side as well as cases where private insurers saved the health pool funds by exposing fraud. That said, the article lives up to the promise of its headline: The private health care system truly is eroding, both presidential candidates intend to maintain it, and consequences often spell financial or physical ruin for those who must rely on it. While the writing is engaging, personalizing the content with anecdotes, and while the subject is more pertinent than ever, the article suffers somewhat from lack of in-depth research connecting the dots so that readers can envision "the big picture." A case in point is the outsourcing of jobs--often so that companies can avoid medical coverage--and the effects of that from expendable income to the state of the economy (and technology's impact on both). After all, once technology blurred the line between home and work, this gave companies the occasion and excuse to outsource as many jobs as possible, increasing profits because they no longer had to pay medical coverage and retirement benefits. Moreover, as cases here show directly and indirectly, by turns, technology is being used by consumers to find the best and most affordable coverage ... and by insurers to pry into medication or prior treatments to expose pre-existing conditions, thus denying coverage once again. The answer, as this article suggests, is universal health coverage because the system no longer is operational.