The US spends approx. $3.6 Trillion on health care (not insurance) per annum. which is more than the entire federal budget. That means by putting everyone on Medicare, which presently does not cover all medical care costs and often requires premiums, you could eliminate all federal spending to include Social Security and still run a deficit. If we maintain the same health care delivery model, we'd need to double taxes just to maintain the gov't at present levels. There are not enough "rich 'people to generate that level of revenue, so the burden would fall on the middle class. 

The only way to make the system work would be to cut health care spending by more than half, which would put our per capita spending on par with Canada, as well as raise taxes.  Are we ready to do both?