In a lot of countries people find it perfectly reasonable for the doctor to say something like "Your father is old, and we can operate to remove his tumor, but

In a lot of countries people find it perfectly reasonable for the doctor to say something like "Your father is old, and we can operate to remove his tumor, but he's not going to live much longer no matter what we do. We don't have unlimited resources so we're not going to operate." People in the US aren't use to making those kinds of tradeoffs, which is why we spend half of our medical dollars on the last year of people's lives. We might decide not to operate, but financial considerations won't enter into the decision. That's why I will be surprised if anything the government does short of rationing care will affect the cost of medicine in the US. It's about expectations.