Quote from hilojack: my comments added
The problem is that all of the countries that "have it figured out" are homogeneous societies where the majority come from similar backgrounds, customs habits etc.
This has nothing to do with the issue as proven by, for example, Brazil, which has a fine public health care system, much better than the U.S., but has a population at least as inhomogeneous as the U.S. Why would population homogeneity have anything to do with health care in the U.S. You are obviously confusing income homogeneity with ethic and racial homogeneity. In the U.S., income inhomogeneity makes health care inaccessible to a large fraction of the population, whereas it is not a significant problem in, for example, Brazil!
Which bring us to the good old US. The grand experiment. A country which can take the dregs of every other third rate country and give them the greatest chance of winning the world economic lottery. At least that's how it used to be. That may be true, but please recognize that the odds are extremely small compared to what you are imagining. And what on Earth does this have to do with the U.S.A.'s inability to provide health care to its citizens? Are you suggesting that the extremely small odds of a poor immigrant striking it rich in the U.S. is a reasonable tradeoff for not having access to routine healthcare in you are otherwise one of the vast majority that don't strike it rich?
The moment you step off the plane (or boat more likely) you've likely already tripled your former net worth because you have access to the greatest healthcare in the world. This is demonstrably untrue. The U.S. has the worst healthcare outcome among 14 industrialized nations by any standard measure you wish to apply. The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that there is a problem!
Does anyone really believe there is a healthcare access problem in the US? Just show up at any emergency room in the middle of the night when the freeloaders hiding in the shadows come out for their free healthcare. Does any educated person in the U.S. really believe that there is not a problem of access to healthcare in the U.S.? I am not talking about emergency rooms here, I'm talking about everyday access to routine health care!!!!! And I'm not talking about people on medicaid. Do you have any idea of just how difficult it is for any unmarried, minimum wage or unemployed person in the U.S. to qualify for medicaid?!!!