I'm really really sure that the enemy is in fact conservatives in our political system. The ACA didn't go far enough because it had to still court moderate dems. And it still barely passed. ON this issue, it's only progressives that have it right.
Your problem with the accounting thing is you are just putting dollar numbers on things as the be all end all when we are talking about lives. Not just of one person here or there but millions of lives, all at once. If your kid lost a job and lost coverage for a year and got ill, what price would you put on their ability to get healthcare? If we were going to talk dollars and cents it would be let them die unless you could pay out of your own pocket. Where does humanity come into the equation?
Universal insurance is the only way to do it without going to government run healthcare. Those are your two options. I'm going with universal insurance. for healthcare. MENTAL and physical. Try getting that past any conservative and let me know how it goes.
That's where you're wrong - because it IS about dollars. As far as whom is to blame, if you're squaring it on just conservative then that's just a lie - your very next sentence mentions how bickering amongst different lobbying democrats made you guys concede things.
As far as dollars - You're absolutely wrong, and I'm not sure if you're understanding what I'm saying, because I would think you would agree with it. Mental health for the country is incredibly preventative - which would overall result in much less expenditures. I'm sure if people in this country were more mentally healthy there would be:
1) Less obese people
2) Less depressed people
3) Less expensive drugs taken
4) Less abuse drugs taken (illegal ones, alcohol, etc...)
5) Less emergency room visits
6) Less school shootings, hell, less crime in general. We all know how much police/courts/criminal proceedings add up.
By all means, let's do like European countries and implement a VAT to pay for healthcare, I'm all for it. But you guys are typically the ones complaining about consumption taxes - well buckle up because the European countries you idolize pay for things with consumption VAT taxes - not income tax.
Also I'm not quite following you with the "let them die" narrative - considering hospitals cannot refuse emergency services? But to answer your overall question - Universal insurance - YES, I am all for it. Just do not run it via a government built entity. That's all I ask.