Good points made thus far but I'll try to sum up my feelings on healthcare.
First, our system works for 95% of the people. The government wants a complete overhaul for the 5% remaining. Doesn't make sense. For the record, there are not 45-50 million Americans without health insurance. There may be 45-50 million people in America without insurance, but they are not all Americans. Not to mention the number that can afford health insurance but don't buy it.
Second, any public funded healthcare will ruin employee sponsored healthcare for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Americans when their employers quit carrying them and toss them to the government. I could very well be one of those. The smart ones up in D.C. have no clue how much extra that's going to cost them because they can't even begin to estimate how many it will be.
Third, any government run healthcare plan will have three characteristics: 1) inefficient, 2) substandard quality, and 3) rife with corruption and fraud. If you don't believe me you have never looked into Social Security, Medicade, Medicare, etc., etc., etc.,
Lastly, once the potential to make money is gone it won't take one generation before there is a shortage of doctors and the drug companies and hospitals stop developing the next generation of treatments.
Sounds like utopia to me. What needs to be done is small changes over a longer period of time to tweak the areas that don't work well.
I'll give you examples of not working well. I know two guys that own their own businesses. Their kids are on ARKids First (state run healthcare for kids) because their parents "can't afford healthcare." One family are members of the local golf club and the other races atv's. Hmmmm, they sound like people with messed up priorities to me. However, I'm kind enough to pay higher taxes so they can do things that I don't budget for. Also, I have a sister in law that is 44 and disabled. Her disability? She got whacked out on drugs in her 20's and is now "depressed." Since all of us will pay her to sit around and do nothing, that is what she will do. Probably for the next 30 years or so.