It's been a while since I've written anything about President Obama's national health care reform. For a time it looked as though he'd built up a good head of steam, and that health care legislation would pass through Congress lickety-split.

So I patiently waited and watched.

Then there was a lull in the action. Maybe it was the summer swoon, I don't know. But it almost seemed as though Obama had lost interest in the project.

As it turned out he was waiting and watching, too. Waiting for Congress to take the lead and watching them instead take an extended snooze.

Then Obama turned up the rhetoric. He spoke directly to Americans several times. He had to do that, I guess, because it was obvious that most of us were losing our stingers on the whole national health care issue. Too much said. Not enough said. Too much said again.

Typical political game-playing.

Mostly it's been nothing but partisan bickering. Hardly anyone -- even those within the president's own party -- can agree on what national health care reform should look like.

So I've been waiting ... and watching.

And to be honest, it doesn't look as though Congress and the president are any closer to health care reform today than they were in January.

It's a rotten tomato. And it should die on the vine.

Not that this country couldn't benefit from some health care reform. Let's face it, most of us think the medical care in this country is pretty darned good. The only thing is, it's

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also too darned expensive.

That's partly the fault of the health care industry -- hospitals, doctors, nurses, lab techs, rehabilitation specialists etc.

It's also partly the fault of the health insurance industry. And it's partly the fault of the medical supply industry. And, of course, it's partly the fault of the pharmaceutical industry.

Therein lies the crisis. So it's time to kick the bums who represent those industries -- we call them lobbyists -- to the curb.

The only question that remains is how involved the federal government should be in that process.

Some folks want full federal involvement -- they want the feds to take health care over entirely.

Some folks want no federal involvement -- they want the feds to keep hands off.

And some of us might be willing to allow the feds a small regulatory role in national health care. The smaller the better.

Until I watched "60 Minutes" last Sunday night, I was inclined to keep the federal government as far removed from national health care as possible. Why? Because everything the feds touch ends up costing taxpayers more than it should.

Just the added federal bureaucracy and government expansion alone will add significantly to the cost of health care. That's over and above what we're already paying.

But after seeing the "60 Minutes" piece on Medicare fraud -- Medicare is, of course, an insurance program for senior citizens and disabled Americans that is entirely managed by the federal government -- I'm absolutely certain I want no national health care plan.

It's as simple as this: If the federal government can't run Medicare, which serves 46 million Americans, without rampant fraud and mismanagement, how can anyone with half a brain trust the feds to run national health care for 300 million Americans?

I'm asking you to take politics out of the equation. No Republicans, no Democrats, just Americans with an interest in improving the national health care system, not making it worse and, certainly, not making it more expensive than it already is.

Without going into too much detail -- you can watch the "60 Minutes" show yourself by going to www.cbsnews.com and clicking on the Medicare fraud story -- it's enough for all of us to know that the feds lose $60 billion to $90 billion a year due to Medicare fraud and mismanagement.

Medicare fraud has become one of the most profitable crimes in America. One FBI agent said flat out that Medicare fraud activity in South Florida is much bigger than the drug business. And that's saying something. But apparently the risks for Medicare fraud are fewer and the rewards far greater than dealing drugs.

Yet the feds can't or won't stop it. Yes, they're trying. But it's a runaway train.

The only conclusion I can possibly reach after watching this show is that the federal government -- no matter how much we want it to be different -- is not capable of managing a medical bureaucracy.

"Look, I'm sure that you're aware of these problems," "60 Minutes" interviewer Steve Kroft said to Kim Brandt, Medicare's director of program integrity. "But it doesn't seem like you're doing a very good job. ... This is still a huge problem, and getting worse, right?"

"Well, it really does come down to the size and scope of the Medicare program," Brandt said, "and the resources that are dedicated to oversight and anti-fraud work."

That tells me everything I need to know.

So I'm waiting ... and watching.

And hoping common sense will prevail.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.