The problem is that we're in debt, and there's no one to pay for it, especially with the costs of healthcare increasing, rather than decreasing, as they should when technology improves.
The U.S. spends about 16% GDP on health care and this is, by a large margin, the most spent by any rich nation on health care. I think it is hard to argue that a national health care system for the U.S. must inevitably cost more than what is currently spent in the U.S. for health care when every national health care system in the world costs less than what we currently spend.
It doesn't pay for healthcare. Look, I'm not saying we don't need reform, but we can't just flip a magic switch and make it so.
My grandmother died due to improper surgery procedures in canada but we couldn't bring a suit against the doctor. I'm sure if she died in the USA under the same circumstances, we would be able to successfully sue the hospital for negligence.
http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/uk-economy/uk-national-deb...
The British welfare state, including the National Health Service, was created around 1948 at the height of Britain's debt.
Arguments along the lines of "we're in debt" don't really seem to make sense.