The per capita cost for health care in the US is right around $10k/yr. Of that, approx 50% is incurred by people over 55, though they are only about 25% of the population.
I will say, in reference to the notion of single-payer, that I don't think a sales tax could cover that... myself, I don't spend a lot of money, maybe $30k/yr between the wife and I... so you'd have to ding us for 66% to cover my theoretical "nut" with a sales tax.
Google tells me Canada is about $4k/yr per capita. That's more doable, I'd think, in terms of a sales tax (or other unavoidable tax).
I suspect that even if the profit seeking entities were removed from our health care equation, and how that could be accomplished as a practical matter (corporations = people after all) is beyond my ken, but if it WAS possible I suspect that our "system" is just plain more expensive than Canada's due to the technological infrastructure, ongoing R&D, and highly trained specialists... .
I think the solution here is to let people 55 and older die in the streets when they can't afford care. Win/win. Kidding.
