It is going to cost A LOT more than we think it is. I want it too and believe we should be moving that way, but I just finished a class that went heavily into medical insurance ethics and the "other first world contries" are doing well with UHC in part BECAUSE we aren't. You go to the giant pharmaceutical companies in Europe and ask "UHC was enacted in your country, but you didn't go bankrupt, admin costs are far down, clearly you can make a profit on less money" but where are they making the money? America. You go to medical device manufacturers in Japan and see that they are selling MRIs for the cheap government-mandated price and are still doing very well so obviously the manufacturers can stomach UHC as well right? But where are they selling the devices at huge profits? America. In a very real sense, we are subsidizing the rest of the world's healthcare market and if/when we go UHC, things will change for the rest of the world and their costs will almost certainly go up as well.

I agree however. UHC needs to happen and I'm happy to do my part to pay for it.