I am a Canadian who loves the USA like a sister so I follow your politics rather closely. If you feel that as a Canandian I have no right to comment, I will understand if you read no further. However, if you would be interested in an outsider's point of view, please read on.
A while ago I read an article about Rick Scott. This man owns several hospitals. I guess that's not shocking to you, but to me, it seems really strange. How can you own a hospital? Here in Canada all the hospitals are government-run as not-for-profit services to the citizens. The goal is to provide care for whomever needs it. Is there waste and abuse of funds? Of course. But what there isn't is any kind of profit margin. No one is trying to increase profits so they can make more money.
So, to me, owning a hospital is just weird. It would be like being at a party and being introduced to other guests: "This is Fred Jones. He owns the Fire Station on the corner."
"And have you met Mark? His family owns our Police Department."
" And Jane over there owns the Court House on Main Street."
It just seems that there are certain activites that are so important to human life that they should not be subject to the profit margin. Fire, police, justice - and HEALTH! What is more important ? Yet folks who are just fine with a govenment run fire department scream, "SOCIALISM!" at the thought of government involvement in health. I just don't get it.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations the U. S. spends two and a half times what Canada spends per person on health care. Why? Profit.
National Geographic reports that Canada spends 10 % of GDP on health compared tp your 17%. Why? Profit.
So it seems to me that if you want to improve health care the answer is obvious: remove the need for profit.
How to do that? Single payer. It's really the only way. As long as you involve private enterprise there will always be the profit margin. Health insurance companies are never going to give up this tasty morsel of income without a fight. So it's tough.
What would need to be done? A government-run system is established using tax dollars. Which means everyone pays more taxes to pay for a very expensive program.
Of course everyone would scream about higher taxes. BUT they could be made to see that those taxes would be off-set. For someone who buys their own health insurance the increase in taxes would be off-set by not having to pay premiums. Those who get health insurance as a benefit at work would feel wronged. BUT since their employer no longer has to pay for their premiums he would be required to raise their pay, thus off-setting the increase. So employers pay more in wages, but save in insurance costs.
Of course it would be more complicated than this and there would be those who might end up paying a bit more, or less than under the current system but for most it would all even out. And the reward would be that no one would die because they couldn't afford the care they need.
Before long everyone would be comfortable knowing that they would be cared for no matter what. Losing your job wouldn't mean losing your health. And everyone would wonder, "how can someone own a hospital?