I get your sentiment, but I personally feel that education should be our #1 defense priority.

No need to fight over which one gets to be called number 1. Both are components of a whole vision; a healthy, thriving populace, building off the successes of one another to create a better experience for everyone, rich and poor alike.

You don't need government programs to do that.

It's important to have a central, regulated allocation of some resources for a society as large as America-- and for that matter, any society. The point of group living (where any society is group living) is that everyone has a safe place to return to and can count on at least most of the other members of the group to help them out when they need it. The point of universal healthcare is that you pool your money with everyone else so that when you get sick, you get care, and when your neighbor gets sick, he doesn't spread his infectious disease to you, and when someone else in your work place gets sick, you spend less time making up for their missing days.

You need an organization that can utilize resources derived from the whole of the economy to provide service to the whole of the populace. Ideological prejudice against “government programs” obstructs getting this good work done.

Please provide any example of successful large scale non governmental program that achieved such a lofty society wide goal.

Note that military and intelligence is government funded and probably the field where US has the biggest achievements.

I'm saying this for political reasons - since healthcare literally is defense of the people's physical well being, I'm suggesting a branding and messaging change not arguing for overall priority re-adjustments against other issues (education, etc)