Look at what every other western country does. They pretty much all have some form of "socialised" medicine aka universal healthcare. In New Zealand, we spend about 1/4 as much per capita on healthcare, yet we live longer and have better stats re child mortality and the like. We are not particularly good either, there are a lot of countries doing better than us.

The role of insurance is then to cover the difference between basic health care and premium.

The main objections I have seen from yanks is: 1 It's socialism! Maybe, depending on your definition, but it works. The word "socialism" should not be an off switch for your brain. 2 I don't want to pay for someone else's health care. If you have insurance, you already are paying for someone else's healthcare. Sometimes they are paying for you, that's how insurance works.