Actually, Medicare contracts with these same insurance companies to handle all the claims. They just do it for much less profit than they rake in from regular insurance plans.
So all it would take is shifting the employer contributions that now pay for health insurance directly into Medicare. The insurance companies would still be handling the same number of claims, they would all be Medicare claims instead of both kinds. And they would not be too happy with their lower profits. They make 20% of every health care dollar on regular policies. I think on Medicare they only get 5%.
