While your observations are on the mark i would challenge your conclusion that government involvement will inevitably be incompetent.

In denmark the healthcare system is simply unbelievable. And it is state controlled. I understand that there is a major difference in scale as denmark is so tiny, but it seems that government involvement doesn't have to be incompetent.

I am 100% for universal healthcare. This is an investment that a government can make that can ONLY LEAD TO A HEALTHIER POPULATION. And i assure you that Denmark is at the forefront of medical research AND it keeps its doctors and nurses REAL happy.

Besides health insurance choices are basically a gamble that can AT BEST save you some money or at worst kill you cuz you hadn't thought of insuring yourself against cancer of the noodle.

Anyhow your comparisons of China vs Japan and US vs USSR is a bit of an apple/orange comparison. Both China and the USSR are/were developing economies, whereas the US and Japan are the 1st and 2nd strongest economies on the planet.