[mnhn1]

People don't consume healthcare "all the time" the same way they do food, housing, water. Preventive healthcare is cheaper/less work than treating illnesses that have gotten more serious, leading to less total consumption of healthcare (and those other downstream resources impacted by people avoiding preventive care). Also "Free healthcare available to all" doesn't preclude a private market. The Govt Healthcare is not always timely, may not cover treatments people want, or cover certain elective surgeries. Some people will always choose to participate in a private insurance market that provides value above a baseline govt health plan.

[BobbyJo]

You can't pitch ways of increasing demand as a fix for a supply shortage. You're just shuffling around how who gets what is decided. Why is a government agent deciding any more ethical than your bank account?

And creating a public market necessarily diminishes the private, driving up costs, as purchasers are now competing with government for the same supply.