>Do we really believe that the people that work in the government here (in the US) are actually competent enough to administer a public health care system? I don't. I'd like to be convinced otherwise.

Sorry for the late reply.

Belief is unnecessary. The US government has been administering Medicare[0] since 1965 -- longer than I've been alive.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)