Are Insurance Companies Adding Value?

Check out this article from the New England Journal of Medicine published in 2003.  It compares the administrative costs for the United States healthcare system and the Canadian healthcare system.  Though the data is about a decade old, the implications are just as provocative, perhaps more provocative, at this time of fervent debate and bombastic rhetoric.  Here is a link to the article http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf

In the midst of such strident posturing we are ignoring certain fundamental themes.  So, I pose the following question.  What value is the health insurance industry adding to the landscape of providing comprehensive health care to our nation?