excuse me, STOSH, but we cannot refuse Social Security or Medicare. They are MANDATORY! Enrollment in Medicare is mandatory. Our wages are taken from us for Social Security automatically, without consent. Then, if we want our money back from the government that has taken it from us, we must "apply" for it, only to recieve less than we have contribted in the first place! If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to purchase private insurance once one is enrolled in Medicare, and if Medicare is so great, why did Congress even see fit to introduce "supplemental" programs. If it was comprehensive why would anyone seek to purchase "supplemental" insurance? If the citizens were allowed to opt out of these programs what do you think would happen to them? Immediate and catastrophic failure. That is precisely why they are mandatory in the first place. and they are definitive failures. You are absolutely correct that most of the people writnig comments here would refuse to participate in these programs if given the choice, but we are not given the choice, that is the point!