There are two fundamentally different ways to look at
health insurance. The first is that it's a basic
human right, the same as
free speech and a
democratic vote and the right to pursue a
livelyhood in a
capitalist economy. The second is that it's a
service, and an
expensive one at that, the same as
plumbing repair and
cable television and
dial-up internet connectivity.
People who argue the first viewpoint think that the government should tax everyone for this particular service, because it's so vital to our fundamental survival in a modern society. People who argue the second viewpoint are usually the ones who have to earn a living from it.
The truth, as with so many other things, lies somewhere in between. Things like vaccines and eyeglasses and regular life-saving physicals should be considered basic rights in first-world nations. But I can't support the viewpoint that expensive treatments like like those used for cancer should be supported with nationwide taxes. We've got enough to worry about in the United States trying to get Social Security stabilized again; adding full unlimited medical care for the entire Baby Boomer generation would bankrupt the country in about three weeks.