More seriously, the American people just don't trust their government to be competent or efficient. Only about 20% describe government programs as "well-run."[0] Although more than 50% seem to think that it's doing an okay job on health care at the moment.
It would be an incredible undertaking to establish something like the NHS in the US, and the political will just isn't there.
[0] http://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/beyond-distrust-how-a...
My knowledge of the US is limited but I imagine that a US version of the NHS would be organised by state and then by district hospitals. Plenty of moving parts at the back end but at least the patient just sees the single payer front end.
I also want to look into how the NHS works in more detail.
Might do some googling once I've rested up today (we saw the New Year in last night)
But maybe I'm wrong and the issue has complexities I'm not yet aware of.
1) Having moved US -> UK, I wish the US had something like the NHS.
2) I've heard multiple veterans decry the quality and responsiveness of the VA healthcare is some pretty drastic terms.
3) I know from Rep. Capuano's mailing list the GOP has been trying for years to reform Ye VA in some way.
I suspect that until people stop being unhappy with the VA, that a large chunk of Americans will associate government-run healthcare with incompetence and inefficiency. This stands in stark contrast to the British perception of the NHS, so I want to know what's up.