In the first place, I don't think anyone believes that any system that provides access to health care universally is free.
In the second place, countries that do have universal health care, and there are a whole lot of different plans out there, spend less as a percentage of GDP on health care than we do and have longer life expectancies.
Third, just because we don't have universal health care doesn't make us more free or mean that we don't support a massive bureaucracy. Insurance companies are massive bureaucracies. They collect monthly premiums, employ people to deny service, and dictate what doctors we may see.