I've been remembering the USPS discussions of the early/mid 1980s. That was a time when everyone was terribly impressed with the successful efficiency of Federal Express and UPS. And there was talk that we could disband the USPS and let the Free Market handle all postal service.

Of course the problem with that idea was that Federal Express and UPS don't deliver everywhere. While the USPS delivers a first class letter everywhere in the country for the same price, Federal Express & UPS wouldn't. It wouldn't make Free-Market-Sense to price a letter to Alaska at the same rate as a letter across New York City. Rural customers, those in Hawaii or Alaska -- they'd be charged the full market cost of transporting their mail. If they could get it delivered at all.
And gradually talk of dismantling the USPS quietly faded away.

How does the Postal Service compare to Health Care?