It isn't a difficult concept.
As a society, we recognize that there are things everyone should have access to and we all pay for it. We all have the right to protection from police and access to the justice system. We determined that everyone has a right, and that is serves the common good, to provide everyone access to a basic education.
No one should be deprived of their right to life, any more than their right to justice, because of money.
Rights? What are rights?
We can debate rights, however I do expect any government to do that which enables a more stable society. Even the ancient Roman Empire understood the need for public welfare projects and even had public food doles.
The costs of the US healthcare apparatus have gotten out of control--they have no basis in anything reasonable.
When my mother had a series of brain surgeries, the hospital fitted her with a leather helmet to protect the area between procedures. This helmet looked pretty much like the old-time leather football helmets. I saw that it was made in Korea...and I saw that the hospital billed $2000 for that helmet.
I took pictures of it to a local livery store (this was Oklahoma--plenty of places selling leather equestrian goods). I asked them how much it would cost to custom-make a similar device. They quoted $500. Now, I've bought leather goods in South Korea before, and I know darned well nobody paid over $100 for that helmet; and I could get it custom made locally for only $500.
My daughter recently went to an emergency room for a sudden eye infection. Unfortunately, she was moving between jobs and was in a healthcare gap. They did a blood test, sent her back home, and charged $
8,000. I said eight thousand dollars. My wife negotiated it down to $4,000.
First point: Eight thousand dollars was absurd.
Second point: The fact that they were fairly easily negotiated down to $4,000 proves that $8,000 was absurd. And it's not unusual to be able to negotiate medical bills substantially lower.
The fact that no insurance pays what is charged also proves their charges are absurd. If their charges were actually based on their costs, they'd all be out of business if they never got what they charged.
A Chicago television news station shopped around the Chicago area hospitals for an uncomplicated appendectomy. The cost from hospital to hospital to hospital/surgeon to surgeon ranged from $1,500 to over $250,000.
This kind of situation--when one hospital visit can cause a bankruptcy--is only increasing exponentially every year. It will very soon--as Boomers age--create a genuine national emergency...and that is why I expect government to deal with it rather than pretend it's not happening.