>Any scheme (market- or bureaucracy-based) that guarantees to cover everybody from healthcare costs is a fool's errand because people will spend themselves poor, lie, cheat, and steal to stay alive.
I hear talk of far-off countries, where no one goes bankrupt from medical expenses.
To rephrase, giving everyone a blank check to pay for healthcare will never work.
Many countries that provide universal healthcare either have budget problems or financial situations not true of the U.S. (small size, proportionally large oil reserves). Even then, at the end of the day, someone still says no to some costs.
Sure. Some procedures are uneconomic, and it would be awkward to make them illegal, so there will probably always be private options. But the US approach is just grossly inefficient (I've heard it spends twice as much per capita on healthcare as comparable nations, for indistinguishable outcomes). Driving people into bankruptcy for health problems they have no control over doesn't make anyone more productive. Tying healthcare to employment makes the labour market illiquid and disadvantages everyone. And I shudder to think what life must be like for e.g. someone who wants to leave an abusive marriage but is dependent on their partner for health coverage.
I hear talk of far-off countries, where no one goes bankrupt from medical expenses.