Yeah I think the health care spending vs military spending is a false dichotomy. It's popular on the anti-war left to say this but it's not a either or. The US government alone
already spends as much per person as other nations with fully universal health care (free or nearly free at point of use). Let's look at US vs UK spending for a back-of-the-napkin comparison:
US federal spending on health care
$980b (Medicare & Medicaid, etc) + $260b (tax "expenditures": credits & deductions)
= $1.24t total (not counting state spending which is substantial).
Per capita:
US Population: 321.4m
$1.24t / 321.4m = $3,858.12 per person
UK national health care budget
total public health spending: £146.4b
To USD (according to google): $190.07b
Per capita:
UK Population: 64.14m
$190.07b / 64.14m = $2,963.36 per person
This is definitely not a perfect analogy, the US is FAR larger geographically and most of the nation is still sparsely populated (& fatter). BUT STILL. Here's an example of a nation covering EVERYBODY free at point of care for 4/5ths the cost we spend to only cover the poor and the old with the rest of us still paying for it privately. They do it with extensive price controls, planning, removing profits, streamlining administration, & yes, rationing.
My point being that there is a lot of waste & government sponsored price gouging in the US health care system. There is AMPLE fat to cut that can go towards expanding care without increasing spending a cent. I looked at only federal spending above but combine that with state spending & private spending and we're already spending enough per person to have literally the best health care system in the world with virtually no out of pocket spending & far less rationing than the U.K. system.
The problem is that those profiting on the waste & gouging are incredibly well connected politically and will fight to the death. Also the public is easily scared of price controls & especially rationing. Remember "death panels"? They were the right's version of "rape is a preexisting condition" scare a few years ago that almost tanked Obamacare.
