Forbes.com asked this week whether health insurance companies like Cigna are really to blame in cases like that of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year-old girl who died recently in Los Angeles because she needed a liver transplant.

What the article fails to do is discuss the real issue here, which involves taking a long, critical look at our health care system as a whole.

Health insurance companies like Cigna are the target of much frustration these days. There are millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans who are turned away by insurance providers for everything from previous conditions to a simple lack of money.

In Nataline's case, her parents allege that she was denied the funding for the transplant by Cigna, and as a result she died. The article at Forbes addresses whether or not the hospital is really to blame.

But health insurance companies and hospitals are only one piece of the giant puzzle known as the American health care system. Whether it's rising costs, use of medications, a large number of sick and unhealthy people, or simple greed, it's not just one factor that contributes to sad cases like that of Nataline.

What we need is an entirely new or at least significantly remodeled health care system for everyone. Until that happens, lawsuits against health insurance companies or hospitals or doctors won't really make things different for the next person who needs care and cannot afford it.

Do we all need health insurance? Yes. Do we need to make healthy lifestyle decisions and see our doctor every year? Yes. This is why it's important to have medical coverage in the first place.

Now we just need to make it affordable, available, and of good quality for all American citizens.