Michelle Malkin has an interesting item today about the state of private health insurance for individuals which, she suggests, ain't all that good.

To make her point, she goes over the details of choices her own family had to make in acquiring private health insurance. It didn't seem all that pretty.

Health care is expensive but it's hard to find a situation where hard-working people just can't have their medical needs taken care of in one form or another. Just today, in fact, New York Gov. George Pataki announced the state had enrolled more than 100,000 people into its "Healthy NY" program. That provides low-cost, private health insurance for working families who really can't afford $1,000 a month for a medical plan.

How does it work? For example: A family of four that needs coverage - either because the breadwinners are independent contractors, own a small business, or their job doesn't provide it - and don't make more than $47,000 annually can qualify.

For example, in Suffolk County on Long Island, here's a breakdown of what the plan would cost a family that qualifies:

A family plan with a prescription plan included would have to pay $551.60 a month if you pick Aetna's offering. An individual would pay $186.80. A single parent would pay $329.80. (Their income thresholds would also be different depending on size of the household.)

Other options include plans offered by Empire Health Choice, Cigna, GHI, Healthnet, HIP and several others.

Is it free health care? No. It's not even cheap. But for a family making $3,928 a month, $551.60 is a do-able cost for health care. And that doesn't stop the family from participating in a tax-exempt Medical Savings Account.

And the patients get to choose their own doctors.

In part, New York is able to offer this program by pooling risk. It's not, however, providing a state-run health care system. Some might say that's a good thing.

To quote P.J. O'Rourke: "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."