Social healthcare

There must be some reason that Americans are so against social healthcare. There has to be. Can someone give me a reason for it? I feel like I'm missing something fundamental, because it just doesn't make sense to me.

Imagine this, Americans, if you will. You work every day of your life. It sucks. Instead of paying your HMO payments every month, you pay a smaller amount to a government-mediated healthcare agency. Now, imagine that you've been paying this "national insurance" your whole life. You've never used it. You're retired. You live on a state pension and your savings. You're in a car accident and break your leg. Your government doesn't try to weasel out of paying up for your treatment. EVERYONE pays for EVERYONE else's healthcare. When you're ill enough that you need medical attention, you get treated. You don't have to spend your time in hospital arguing about the percentage of your treatment that will be covered. You don't have to sell your house to pay for meds or an operation, because everyone is paying for everyone else's treatment. Imagine that. A society where everyone is on the same side, all helping each other stay healthy.

And, there we have it, the only plausible reason that the US media would be justified in this outrage - they're representing a people who don't want to help their fellow man. It's either that or the media I have access to represents shareholders in medical insurance, whom I can't imagine will be doing too well out of the healthcare reform bill.

If you're American or you know someone who is, I'd love to hear something on this, because I only ever hear that it's unpopular; never why, and I just don't understand!

Just so we're clear, I'm not saying it's perfect, and there are a lot of people who complain about the NHS, but we complain about waiting times, not dying because we can't afford to pay for treatment. That's the kind of math I can do easily.