Honestly, I didn't get this. Why was there so much anger towards free healthcare in America? It just left me scratching my head with a "Guh?" coming out of my mouth. Especially since a lot of the anger was from people who would benefit from it most.
Because I can afford good health care and I don't really feel like paying for other people's. It's nothing personal toward them, and if it were magically free I'd be quite happy for them, but my pocket is regularly picked enough.
Every bill pushed forward has been a love song to insurers anyway, so it's not like a good thing is being missed here.
So you'd rather let kids die of leukemia just because they had the poor fortune not to be born rich rather then give a bit more money? Because that sounds an awful lot like what you're saying.
Your argument is an appeal to emotion, and that's just silly. If individuals want to spend their money to help them, that's awesome (and, FWIW, I donated a good chunk of a paycheck to the Jimmy Fund at their last major drive; the difference between charity, which is voluntary, and taxation for pet causes, which is certainly not, is quite large). I choose to do so out of my own free will; it is no one's obligation to do so and I wholly reject the idea.
In a practical sense, I would actually be quite alright with UHC for anyone under the age of 18
and anyone currently enrolled in an institution of higher learning; the former allows for some basic protections before they are in a place to root, hog, or die (and yes, it's quite important that
everyone do so, you are neither special nor entitled to take money from my pocket just as I am neither special nor entitled to take money from yours, but a fair
starting point is certainly of benefit to everyone), and the latter encourages an improvement of our workforce's baseline capabilities in a way that, intuitively, seems to pay dividends greater than the relatively small expense. (UHC for everyone does
not intuitively show a likelihood for an economic improvement beyond the expenditure, nor have I seen any numbers to suggest it to be the case.)
But if you find it so important, feel free to spend your money on it. Nobody's stopping you. Just don't presume to spend mine without my consent. (This goes for vote-pandering of all stripes, from UHC to farm subsidies.)
EDIT: Mind you, I entirely agree that most of the people complaining over UHC are ones who would benefit. They are morons. I would not benefit from UHC, and it is not my job, nor anyone else's, to save them from themselves. Stupidity is the only capital crime, and there are no appeals.