Including but not limited to...
...a belief that health care is a privilege (As Rep. Zach Wamp put it in an interview a couple of years back) rather than a right.
...reliance on the market to set prices.
...tendency to blame people for their misfortunes. I can't quite remember the Christopher Hitchens quote, but basically the dark side of the American can-do spirit is a belief that if things go wrong, it's your fault.
After several in the audience at one of the GOP debates cheered the prospect of an uninsured man dying, a doctor told me I had to understand that that was all about showing contempt for someone who didn't take responsibility (in this case, for not buying insurance ahead of time).
...the money and organization summoned up by those who oppose any kind of change/reform. Have a look at One Nation, Uninsured.
...a hybrid system in which your health care plan depends on your age, military status, employment, etc. People might not bother worrying about coverage until they confront a problem.
...misinformation and hysteria in the media. Remember the claims about "death panels"?
...jingoism. Any time there's a GOP debate, it seems to me at least one of the candidates starts bashing the Europeans or the Canadians and their social programs, including health care arrangements.
...ignorance.
...misanthropy.
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