You’re right in that it is a no brainer and has been for some time: 68,000 people die each year in the US due to lack of healthcare. On top of that it will save

You’re right in that it is a no brainer and has been for some time: 68,000 people die each year in the US due to lack of healthcare. On top of that it will save the US about $500 billion per year. So it’s right for both moral and fiscal reasons. But from the perspective of your average politician they just want to get re-elected, and maybe make some extra cash through grift along the way. To do that they get financed by lobbyists that include business interests which are against this. Some that are against it for direct reasons (they’re a health company) some for less direct reasons (they’re a big US business and they like the control employer based health care gives them over their workers). So few politicians are pushing it. And they don’t have to because in our system so long as they other side doesn’t push it either, they can just give a bunch of weak excuses and it never happens. Will this pandemic change that? Hard to say. The current Dem front runner has said quite literally that he would veto it. Even if all the hard work was done to get it through the house and senate, all he had to do was sign it into law, he would veto it. So you know where the Dem leadership stand on this, solidly with their donors and against giving people healthcare. And so far in terms of response we have seen that instead of direct and simple solutions they are focused on creating complicated and means tested solutions that leave out significant chunks of the population including the most vulnerable. (And overall acting incredible slowly given the seriousness of the situation.) So I don’t think if it happens it’ll happen easily. On the other hand, if Trumps opinion ratings go down and he decides he wants to be remember he may have a crazy brain fart and spurt out an order to give everyone healthcare in this pandemic. It would still be unlikely to happen because the Rep leadership would try to complicate it just as they did the plan to give everyone checks.