sadly, it's too late for the US to emulate the Japanese or even the Euro, Canadian healthcare systems.
the US govt is held hostage by the big Pharma lobby which the electorate allowed to become so powerful that US citizens pay 10 times more for diabetes meds than other countries & untold 1000s of citizens are bankrupted by one of the most corrupt, immoral, for profit healthcare systems that ever existed.

Many, many years ago I recall watching an investigative report on this subject that took the form of a Town Hall Meeting (in Chicago, I think). The studio audience was asked which medical system is better: America’s or Canada’s? The majority chose the American system. A documentary was then shown to them (and the TV viewer) comparing the two systems in detail. Now fully informed, the same question was asked again of the same audience at the end of the program, which proceeded to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the Canadian system. Knowledge is power.

Why Are Nonprofit Hospitals So Highly Profitable?

New York Times 2/20/2020

EXCERPTS

Hospitals fall into three financial categories. Two are easy to understand: There are fully private hospitals that mostly function like any other business, responsible to shareholders and investors. And there are public hospitals, which are owned by state or local governments and have obligations to care for underserved populations. And then there are “private nonprofit” hospitals, which include more than half of our hospitals.

It’s time to rethink the concept of nonprofit hospitals. Tax exemption is a gift provided by the community and should be treated as such.

The real question surrounding nonprofit hospitals is whether the benefits to the community equal what taxpayers donate to these hospitals in the form of tax-exempt status.

The average chief executive’s package at nonprofit hospitals is worth $3.5 million annually. (According to I.R.S. regulations, "No part of their net earnings is allowed to inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual." ) From 2005 to 2015, average chief executive compensation in nonprofit hospitals increased by 93 percent. Over that same period, pediatricians saw a 15 percent salary increase. Nurses got 3 percent.

A number of communities that think nonprofit hospitals take more than they give back have started to sue.

Morristown Hospital in New Jersey lost most of its property-tax exemption because it was found to be behaving as a for-profit institution.

The most profitable nonprofit hospitals tend to be part of huge health care systems. Consolidations are one of the driving forces behind the towering profits, because monopoly hospitals are known to charge more than non-monopoly hospitals.

[nytimes.com]

Yes we could do this in the United States, but of course it probably won’t happen in my lifetime because the pharmaceutical industry owns our fucking Congress.

Preaching to the choir before privatized medical insurance it was all not for profit, it worked much better then

Before it could happen here, at least half of Americans would have to learn how to use basic math and feel empathy.