If you take US spending on just Medicare and Medicaid and divide that by the total population (i.e. even people who aren't covered by those programs), you get a

If you take US spending on just Medicare and Medicaid and divide that by the total population (i.e. even people who aren't covered by those programs), you get a greater per capita number than all health care spending in UK (which covers all residents). So US is apparently just as willing as UK to spend federal money on health care, it just doesn't get as much in return.