Disguised as “free healthcare”
1) Make it illegal for US citizens to purchase, or US corporations to sell health insurance. Since no price can be put on a person's health it is presumptuous to do so.
2) Everyone must pay for health care out of pocket. If they don't have the money they can use a credit card, get a loan, or beg for charity.
3) The US government MUST provide loans to citizens who request them to cover health expenses. The government charges low interest rates, and won't require any monthly payment on the loan beyond the person's ability to pay.
4) When a person dies any remaining loan payments are forgiven. They are not transferred to another family member.
In this system the only thing the government does is administer loans. The only costs would be the net difference between the profit made from interest on paid off loans, and losses from loans not paid off due to deaths.
Even if a person knows they might get away without having to pay off their loans (by dying before payout, heaven forfend), if they demand better prices, then they can get away without having to take loans, or with lower monthly payments.
The entire health system is incentivized to keep health costs low. The only downsides would be that this might discourage preventive care, and there may be ways to scam the system into doling out money for fake ailments without the loans ever being paid out.
But Medicare and other programs are already being scammed, so this will just require a reasonable amount of agents and oversight to keep the fraud to a minimum.
The government could also lower interest rates on loans for those people who can show they spent money on yearly physicals, teeth cleanings, etc. in order to encourage preventive care.
I realize such a plan would be anathema to libertarians who believe that the government shouldn't make a transaction between two willing participants illegal, but I think that is a reasonable step to take in order to make the system as a whole less subject to government controls and interference.