Polls may say that health care is people's number one priority, but any trip to McDonalds or Walmart will reveal that health care is a low priority for many Americans. Diet and exercise would do far more to improve the health of the average American than health insurance.
Healthcare isn't a right or a privilege, it is a collection of goods and services. Some health care is of high value, but frankly a lot of the money we spend on health care is a waste of of money. By this, I mean it is not something we would choose to buy if given a choice. This is especially true of Medicare and end of life care.
Suppose there existed a treatment that could extend your life by 1-year but costs $100,000. Some people would pay for the treatment, but others may not even if they had the money. They may prefer to leave the money for their children or spend it on something else.
Another way of looking at this is paying an extra $2,000 per year for 50 years in the form of higher insurance premiums (or the equivalent of paying $100,000 at the end) would increase your life-expectancy by one-year. Again, some people would pay, others wouldn't. Personally, an extra week of vacation for 50 years sounds better than an extra year in retirement.
Under Medicare for All, everyone would have the same level of health care regardless of their preferences. If people don't face the additional cost of more health care, then they will demand more health care. Ultimately the level of health care will have to be rationed where people who don't value health care as much will consume more than they otherwise would while people who are willing to pay for more health care will be unable to receive it.
