I think everyone forgets that we already have universal health care in the fact that emergency rooms don't have right of refusal, the cost of the uninsured is covered by higher premiums for the insured. and emergency room visits are much more expensive than preventive health care like regular physicals and medication.
also we subsidize lower cost prescription medication overseas because UH systems in other countries can negotiate lower costs through bulk purchasing. Pharmaceuticals offset this by charging individuals (read us in the US) a higher cost.
while philosophically I agree that in general most markets are better as free markets health care is not one of those systems. Fundamentally it would work a lot better if everyone had health insurance, but for the unemployed or those below the poverty line often this is not a realistic option.
AT any rate something has to be done, while traditionally American health care has done better in some areas such as cancer treatment we spend far more than any industrialized nation to cover not even our whole population, is this something to be proud of? apparently that uninsured percentage is all lazy? but why does it cost us soo much more to insure so few?
"...Health care is one of the most expensive items of both nations' budgets. The U.S. government spends more per capita on health care than the government does in Canada. In 2004, the government of Canada spent $2,120 (in US dollars) per person on health care, while the United States government spent $2,724.[11]
However, U.S. government spending covers less than half of all health care costs. Private spending for health care is also far greater in the U.S. than in Canada. In Canada, an average of $917 was spent annually by individuals or private insurance companies for health care, including dental, eye care, and drugs. In the U.S., this sum is $3,372.[11] In 2006, health care consumed 15.3% of U.S. annual GDP. In Canada, only 10% of GDP was spent on health care.[5] This difference is a relatively recent development. In 1971 the nations were much closer, with Canada spending 7.1% of GDP on health while the U.S. spent 7.6%."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared#Coverage_and_accessare you saying we can't meet or beat the canadians in service while spending billions more?