[wwtrv]

> If there was some kind of universal medicare in the US

You don't even need that. Just more/better regulation would suffice. You have countries with fully privatized healthcare systems like Switzerland or partially privatized ones like Germany or Netherlands which have no such problems.

[djbebs]

The problem is the regulation that mandates people have insurance or be punished for it...

[wwtrv]

> The problem is the regulation that mandates people have insurance or be punished

Which is the cornerstone of any universal healthcare system? It only works in other countries if the healthy subsidize the costs of those less fortunate.

Also Switzerland had compulsory fully private insurance. To be fair they do suffer from similar issues as the US. Healthcare prices are very inflated compared to the surrounding countries, accessibility to some services (e.g. dental) is poor for low income individuals etc.

Of course it helps that Switzerland is a quite homogenous, has low inequality and subsidize access for low income individuals. However inherently the system is not that different from the one in US (I mean Switzerland is closer to US than either is to Britain).