The problem we have here seems to be that rich people want to be treated special.
If everyone has healthcare, they worry they will not have special treatment.
So we could maybe have a two tier healthcare system sort of like flying coach and flying first class.
Everyone gets coach healthcare which includes basics and uses drugs that have gone generic.
If you upgrade to first class healthcare, you get the private room, nurse in short skirt, latte flavored jello
My hospital actually has a VIP unit with gold plated everything. Floated there once and they even have nicer toilet paper. Regular rooms are really nice too (100 cable channels, mini fridge, pullout couch for the family) and we have better staffing ratios than most places. I still wish the $$ would be spent on research instead of cable TV and room service.
I am for universal Medicare ( not good for me now, but great if I FIRE).
To really fix healthcare, we need to spend $ to avoid spending $$$$ down the road. This will also not be an overnight fix.
Here are some ideas, feel free to add to the list:
Increase funding for education for poor children, including health literacy. Why not throw in some financial education while we're at it and turn everyone into badass mustachians. Higher literacy (measured by grade level) directly impacts chronic disease burden and life expectancy. Why not also instill a sense of public mindedness ("I should not go to the ER for my poison ivy because it will take the Dr's time away from someone who is really sick").
Encourage people to improve their health rather than treating disease down the road. Provide preventive care and chronic disease management. Insulin is much cheaper than dialysis. BP meds are cheaper than putting a 30 year old in a nursing home because of a stroke.
Provide basic dental care for low income people. It costs millions to take care of one guy with a brain abscess from a tooth. Also it would cut down on frivolous ER visits.
Cut off a-holes who abuse the system.
Do not admit people to the hospital for being drunk. Or for headaches, or back pain, or the flu unless they are actually at risk of dying.
Get rid of f***ing Press-Ganey.
Giving free, accessible, and private birth control to all women and girls would placate both sides of the abortion debate.
Increase research into finding the most cost effective way to solve a problem. Fund more studies for prevention, vaccines, and cures.
Use evidence based treatments. Sometimes lower tech has better outcomes than higher tech.
Bargain with the drug companies for a cheaper price like every other country does. Ban advertising for prescription drugs. Punish Pharma-bro and his ilk.
Look at what other countries are doing instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Cuba has the same life expectancy as the US, and lower infant mortality.
Edit: forgot to add that we should encourage everyone to have the end of life conversation before it is needed. Maybe we should make it a form at the DMV. I have seen many people kept alive when I wouldn't want to be if I were in their situation.